An early goal from Meredith McDermott held up on Halloween night in the Virginia women’s soccer team’s 1-0 victory over No. 12 Virginia Tech at Thompson Field in Blacksburg.
McDermott
McDermott’s goal came off a Lia Godfrey corner kick in the 12th minute of play. Godfrey lifted the corner kick into the middle of the six, where McDermott volleyed it into the back of the net to give the Cavaliers (12-5-0, 5-5-0 ACC) a 1-0 lead.
The Hokies (11-4-3, 6-2-2 ACC) were never able to find the equalizer against the Wahoos’ back line and goalkeeper Victoria Safradin, who posted her second consecutive clean sheet and her sixth of the season. UVa has now held Virginia Tech scoreless in back-to-back meetings and in 10 of the last 13 matches.
“I’m really proud of our effort,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “It’s always going to be a battle, especially here at Virginia Tech, We have a lot of respect for their team and we knew we were going to have to have to play 90 minutes. The first half went well for us. The second half, they changed their shape a little bit and we knew they would press hard; we withstood it a bit. This is a good win and gives us some momentum going into the postseason.”
People are also reading…
With the victory, the Cavaliers picked up a point in the Commonwealth Clash all-sports competition between the two schools. Virginia currently leads the Commonwealth Clash 2-0. UVa’s other point in the Clash came from the men’s soccer team’s 2-1 win over the Hokies earlier this season.
The Cavaliers now turn their attention to the postseason. The NCAA Tournament bracket will be unveiled on Nov. 11.
Virginia men top Mary Washington
The Virginia men’s soccer team concluded the regular season with a 4-2 win over Mary Washington, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III, on Wednesday at Klöckner Stadium.
The win featured a two-goal performance from Joaquìn Brizuela, who scored in his third consecutive game. It was the first career brace for Brizuela, who joined Reese Miller and Kome Ubogu as the only Cavaliers to register multi-goal games this season.
Virginia (8-5-3, 3-3-2 ACC) also got a goal from Brendan Lambe, who found the back of the net on a penalty kick in the 80th minute. The Cavaliers’ opening goal came on an own goal from Mary Washington (15-1-1). Cesar Cordova added two assists to earn his first career points with UVa.
“With this game, we took the approach of using it as a way to get ready for the postseason,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “Scoring four goals and getting the win helps. We have played a couple teams like Mary Washington, and they are a Division I-caliber team. There is a reason why they are the No. 1 team in Division III, so I give them a lot of credit.”
The Cavaliers will be back in action this upcoming Wednesday in the ACC Tournament.
This post was originally published on here
