Virginia 2021

Virginia v Notre Dame game report from HoosPlace: https://hoosplace.com/2021/10/18/wsoccer/6248/

37 Seconds Dooms Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish came to Klockner Stadium wedged in the ACC standings between the #1 and #2 teams in the country. Notre Dame had yet to play a ranked team on the season and the bill was about to come due.

Notre Dame brought an attack that featured the ACC’s co-leading scorer, Sammi Fisher, freshman Korbin Albert, who had already notched 7 goals on the season, and the speedy Olivia Wingate, who would be the most dangerous player on the day. Facing a Virginia team that has started slowly the past several games, Notre Dame’s game plan was simple: press high and tight against Virginia and create the havoc that would allow Fisher and company to run at goal.

Virginia 2
Notre Dame 1

It didn’t work. To be sure, Notre Dame came right out pressing, but the Irish couldn’t create any takeaways and when they did gain possession, they were so out of shape they couldn’t maintain said possession. It was probably six minutes into the game before Notre Dame completed their 20th pass.

Notre Dame lined up with a 3-back defense, and thirty years after the 3 – 5 – 2 had largely fallen out of favor, across the soccer world, this lineup is suddenly back in vogue. Coaches choose their lineups for a variety of reasons, and as a coach, I love the 3 – 5 – 2. (It affords me more positions that I am best at developing and it transitions nicely from the nine-sided 3 – 4 – 1.) But teams that line up in the 3 – 5 – 2 against Virginia do so at their peril.

Virginia lines up with the equivalent with two traditional center forwards, Haley Hopkins – three goals in the past two games – and Diana Ordonez -- 10 goals on the season and co-leader with Sammi Fisher for the scoring crown. All three central defenders have to stay home to defend them which means that it is the wingbacks, the outside pair in the midfield five, who have to cover Virginia’s winger, Alexa Spaanstra and left defender Samir Guidry. Virginia is not going to surprise anybody. Spaanstra is going to play very wide, hugging the touch line as her default starting position. And UVa has a long track record of left side defenders who have free reign to ignite the attack. Most recently with Courtney Petersen, think David Beckham-quality service – and now Guidry who is the best dribbler in the ACC.

Several teams have lined up in the 3 – 5 – 2 against Virginia, and thus far there hasn’t been a wingback who can cover Spaanstra and she’s been given acres of space to run right at the defense. And on the left side, I’m not sure there is anybody who can stop Guidry. Her final ball is improving and once she gains the confidence to similarly run right at the defense, she’s going to be unstoppable.

The attractiveness of the 3 – 5 – 2 is that the numbers should allow for the team to win the battle for midfield. Yet despite all their energy and commitment to the high press, Virginia always had the safety valve of Spaanstra down the right. Virginia controlled the entire first half though a flurry of UVa chances about 12-15 minutes in yielded nothing. This UVa team is rather profligate but the tone was set and the Cavaliers went into halftime feeling pretty good about their chances.

Except that in the 2nd half, Notre Dame dropped back into a four-back defensive line and Spaanstra didn’t have the space. Guidry started slow and Notre Dame again brought the energy, controlled the midfield and had won their first corner of the game 30 seconds into the second half. Within five minutes the Irish had two great chances to score in a 30-second flurry. Keeper Laurel Ivory made a pair of first class saves to keep the score level. Virginia’s best (read that only) chance to score came 20 minutes in when Spaanstra got onto a fine Guidy cross, only to ski the shot.

The game was Notre Dame’s for the taking, but the emblematic play of their day came in the 67th minute when Kati Druzina got the ball 8 yards away from goal, with no one in front of her, and she chose to play a through ball into a very clogged center-of-the-box. The goal is 8 feet tall and 8 yards wide and Druzina had it all in her sights and she passed on the chance. It was a shot that had to be taken because Virginia ain’t going to give many such looks.

Virginia slowly climbed back into the game and with 15 minutes left, the Cavs were in the driver’s seat. The first goal began with Lia Gofrey stealing the ball and stopping a Notre Dame attack. She turned on the ball beautifully, fed Ordonez for a give and go and found Spaanstra wide open (and I do mean wide open) on the right. I don’t know where the defender/wing back had gone, but Spaanstra drove right at goal and skipped the ball over Ashley Naylor and the Cavs were on the board.

Less than a minute later, Spaanstra got the ball wide and drilled a precise ball to the oncoming Haley Hopkins who unleashed a simply explosive header for the second goal. Just as when Hopkins scored her second goal against Syracuse, Ordonez’ early near post run dragged two defenders toward the end line and gave Hopkins the space to capitalize. Another minute later, Spaanstra again found Hopkins, but this time it was a weak shot and it was easily saved. No matter. Virginia was taking the game to the Irish and not rocking on their heels in some sort of prevent defense.

But soccer is a funny game and no lead is ever safe. Notre Dame didn’t give up and with five minutes remaining, Korbin Albert found herself with the ball outside the Virginia box. She caught Ivory napping, maybe a step or two off her line, and drilled a lovely shot to the top left drawer of the goal. Game on and it took a great Lacy McCormack tackle in the box to preserve the win. At no time did Virginia stop trying to play the Virginia Way and it didn’t seem that Notre Dame had any excess reserves to tap into. The ball just bounced their way and they converted. Ball bounced their way again and it took an all-world tackle to snuff out their last chance. As I said, soccer is a funny game.

HIGHLIGHTS | A pair of quick second-half goals help the No. 2 Hoos remain unbeaten in ACC play with a 2-1 win over No. 17 Notre Dame.#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN ⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/zQX6lXVJCd

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) October 18, 2021

And with that, Notre Dame was knocked from the ranks of ACC unbeatens leaving Florida State and UVa squarely atop the table. Here’s what Steve Swanson had to say: “It was a great win for us. We owe a lot to the fans. They were fantastic and what an atmosphere here. It was great to see us come out on the winning end.” This was the largest crowd that I have seen at Klockner in years – listed as just shy of 2500 – and the East Bank was loaded. It was Pride Day, as explained by our friends over at Streaking the Lawn. The women have a lot to be proud about following this one.

Injury Watch: Brianna Jablonowski? She’s become the first forward off the bench for Swanson, but she wasn’t in evidence on the field as both Hopkins and Ordonez logged a full 90 minutes. She was lined up with other substitutes warming up, but she never featured.

Next Up: Louisville, currently sitting 8th in the ACC and on a three-game losing streak, comes to Klockner on Thursday, October 21st. Game time is 7pm.

 

HoosPlace game report: Virginia hosting Louisville.

https://hoosplace.com/2021/10/23/wsoccer/6304/

2nd-year midfielder Alexis Theoret has arrived. After getting spot minutes last year, Theoret has become the first midfielder off the bench for coach Steve Swanson as she appears headed towards assuming the Taryn Torres role in the center of the pitch. She has provided three beautiful assists on the season, but her laser strike for Virginia’s third goal sealed the win and marked her as a player who will have to be accounted for the remainder of the season.


Louisville’s Karen Ferguson-Dayes brought her young Cardinals team to Klockner sporting a career record 194 – 173 – 38 over the past 21 years. She’s built a fairly successful program at Louisville with multiple visits to the NCAA tournament and a first round draft pick last year in the person of Emina Ekic. Virginia’s Steve Swanson possesses a career record of 339 – 99 – 52 over a similar 20+ year tenure. The gulf between their records was mirrored by the gulf between their respective team’s play on the field. This game was never in doubt.

Virginia 4
Louisville 1

Louisville’s doom was sealed quickly. Within the game’s first minute, Lia Godfrey stole the ball (more on that later) in Louisville’s box and immediately fed Alexa Spaanstra for a point blank shot. It was only a great block that kept Virginia off the scoreboard. On the ensuing corner kick, Louisville’s keeper, Gabby Kouzelos, came off her line and got stuck in no-man’s land and ended up putting the ball into her own net. Such is the fear that having both Haley Hopkins and Diana Ordonez in the center of the box inspires. It was a shocking error for a two-time All-ACC performer.

It’s tough to be a mid-table team and spot Virginia a goal in the first 90 seconds.

Notre Dame had tried to stack midfield via the 3 – 5 – 2 and Louisville tried to do the same utilizing a more defensive 4 – 5 – 1. The results were similar. Spaanstra simply laid waste to the left side of the Cardinals’ back line all game, to the point that I couldn’t tell who was supposed to be guarding her. Torres had maybe her finest game offensively on the season. Torres is my favorite player to watch with an engine that never quits and a sublime ability to turn away from pressure. But since getting hurt sometime last summer, before the season started, I don’t think she’s played up to her own high standards. To me, this was her most complete game of the season.

20 minutes later, Godfrey won the ball at the edge of the Louisville box, shrugged off a defender, and drove to the end line where she had a full two seconds to stand over the ball before delivering a perfect strike that Ordonez powered in for the team’s second goal.

Godfrey is an amazing player and she’s rapidly becoming on the best on-ball defenders I have ever seen. She’s very good at stripping the ball from an attacker simply by slipping between the player and the ball. And she’s quite rugged for a woman who stands at just 5’4” as her play before her assist attests. Her play, coupled with Ordonez’ increasingly fine defensive game has allowed Virginia to be more effective pressing the opposing team without the entire team having to sell out as a pressing team. Spaanstra has always been a willing defender – she’s lined up at right back at least twice in her UVa career – and Hopkins is also quite active defensively. The press is a newish wrinkle for the Cavaliers.

This is a young Louisville team – five freshmen started on the night – and overall I was impressed with the team’s on-ball skills, but they simply threw too many balls away. Louisville owned possession with the second-half kickoff and it took them but 8 seconds to lose the ball out of bounds with an extremely wayward pass. And with the subsequent throw-in, Virginia was again off the races. Spaanstra was again rampaging all over Louisville’s back line and she had a couple of lovely feeds that first Ordonez and then Hopkins skied. I love Hopkins’ game and what she brings to the team, especially after the loss of Rebecca Jarrett. I can see how, if she were the featured center forward, and not having to learn how to play the wing, she would be an All-America selection. It would be an exaggeration to compare some of her misses with those of Braxton Key, who had some shocking misses at the rim during his tenure, but man, Hopkins can miss some bunnies. She fits in well with a fairly profligate Virginia team.

About 10 minutes in, the game started slowing down for Virginia and surprisingly, one of the culprits was Spaanstra. I have watched this woman play a lot of games for Mr Jefferson’s university, and she is normally one of the least demonstrable players I’ve seen, rarely complaining about a call or talking to a ref. But maybe that’s changing in her old age. She was brought down at the end line and the ball seemingly went off the Louisville defender, but the ball was ruled a goal kick. She argued with the linesman for maybe 5 – 6 seconds. A couple minutes later she was back in the box where I think she mostly lost her own footing, but it looked like she, umm, embellished the fall as if she were trying to draw a penalty. It was a good no call.

And then it was like a flip switched in her head and she decided that she had to score. On one drive she took a shot that was so poor and wide that it went out of bounds for a throw in. A minute later, at the top of the box, it looked like she tried to score off of a header. It was uncharacteristic of her but it was emblematic of a Virginia team slowing down.

20 minutes into the second half, Louisville had one play where they simply carved up Virginia’s back line and were only saved by a very aggressive Laurel Ivory charging off her line. Just as I was writing that “Virginia looking complacent” in my game notes, the game commentators used that exact same word to describe how the women were playing.

Five minutes later, with about 20 minutes left to play, Louisville got back into the game. The Cardinals had been successful beating down Virginia’s right side, and this time it paid dividends. Louisville’s Emma Hissock got the ball just at the corner of the box and delivered a beautiful looping cross to the awaiting Julia Simon who headed the ball home. It’s difficult to envision just how open Simons was, so I’ll let you see the video.

Who else but Julia Simon⁉️

Cards 1, UVA 2

Watch @espn: https://t.co/LED8NGnj97#GoCards pic.twitter.com/12R6X02nJt

— Louisville Women's Soccer (@LouisvilleWSOC) October 22, 2021

I don’t know who wasn’t paying attention there, whether it was Talia Staude or Laney Rouse, but it’s really hard to be that open in the middle of the penalty box. The goal had maybe been 10 minutes in coming but suddenly, it was game on.

Except for Alexis Theoret. Literally a minute later, Theoret corralled the ball outside the box, drove towards the center, and simply unleashed a lightning bolt into the top right corner. As I’ve written several times, Virginia’s cardinal trait is that they do not give up. Any bounce, any good feeling the Cardinals had acquired from the Simons goal was instantly evaporated. Seven minutes later Taryn Torres would get into the act with a similarly gorgeous laser beam, and just to balance things out, she sent the ball into the top left of the Louisville goal. I had queried myself “how would Virginia respond” to the Louisville goal and Torres and Theoret provided an emphatic answer.

HIGHLIGHTS | The Hoos pick up the 4-1 victory over Louisville on Thursday night with goals from Diana Ordoñez, Alexis Theoret and Taryn Torres.#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN ⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/0ognRAH5kV

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) October 22, 2021

Injury Watch: Samar Guidry did not play. I tried scanning the team shots over the broadcast, but couldn’t pick her out. While for the past six games Lizzie Sieracki has started ahead of Rouse, on this game Rouse was the primary outside back, playing most of the game. It was Sieracki and Sarah Clark who split time at right back. I think both ought to be ahead of Rouse at this point.

Brianna Jablonowski played this game and showed no overt signs of injury.

Up Next: The Cavaliers travel to Miami on Sunday. Miami is coming off an 8 – 0 shellacking at the hands of Clemson and are just playing out the string. Miami is not a good program, but Virginia has struggled on their narrow pitch when they travel to Miami. The Hurricanes won't have this advantage on Sunday. The game has been picked up by ACCNX and the game time has been moved back to 3:00pm.

 

Very important. Thank you! That's what I get for writing this at 11:30 at night after a really shitty day.

Also, and I already corrected this on my live site, but Miami is coming to Charlottesville.

 

Junior Diana Ordonez was recognized at Senior Night. Not sure what that portends, but graduating in three years is pretty impressive.

 

HoosPlace game report UVa v Miami: https://hoosplace.com/2021/10/25/wsoccer/6342/

Virgina Swamps Miami on Senior Day

I went to a small high school in Northern Virginia, and we had a poor football program. We were invited to be cannon fodder for many other teams on their Homecomings weekends. I wonder how many teams similarly chose to honor their seniors when Miami comes to town, as Virginia did on Senior Day 2021. Over the last five seasons, Miami has won a total of 7 ACC games. Or fewer than Virginia has won this year alone.


Miami is a really poor team. Like really bad. They did manage one really great moment this season, winning their game against Boston College on the final second of the game. But that’s it for the season. It’s one thing to lose 5 – 0 to a hot Notre Dame or even Florida State. But to lose 5 – 0 to Virginia Tech as Miami did midweek? Well, the Hurricanes have opened the floodgates….

Virginia 6
Miami 1

Let’s just dispense with the goals. This game was over in the 2nd minute when Haley Hopkins stole the ball in the box and finished off a nice all-three-forwards shredding of the Miami defense.

• 2nd minute: Haley Hopkins
• 11th minute: Alexa Spaanstra
• 13th minute: Diana Ordonez
• 21st minute: Haley Hopkins
• 22nd minute: Taryn Torres
• 28th minute: Diana Ordonez

Six goals in 28 minutes. Two pairs of goals scored two minutes apart. This was Virginia playing a junior varsity squad. Miami was even called for an illegal throw in, which is a kink even my middle school girls have finally worked out. The game announcers stated that Miami keeper Melissa Dagenais was second in the ACC in saves. That’s a dubious distinction, to be sure.

A flood of six goals in 26 minute span, a win on Senior Day and a locked-up share of the ACC regular season title, @UVAWomenSoccer continues to deliver https://t.co/9JMa9Nb7Ey pic.twitter.com/XlMPh6JYgS

— CBS19 Sports (@CBS19Sports) October 25, 2021

Miami did have one highlight on the day, a nice goal by Katarina Molina who spun Claire Constant after Constant had inexplicably placed her back onsides. It was a pretty goal and only the 2nd shot that the Hurricanes had attempted on Laurel Ivory in four meetings over her career. Yikes!

Senior Day: Virginia honored Taryn Torres, Lauren Hinton, Laurel Ivory, Diana Ordonez, Lizzie Sieracki and Sydney Zandi. In Steve Swanson’s most touching move, he started Hinton at left back and played her just over 60 minutes. For reference, Hinton has played just 175 minutes over her entire UVa career. She acquitted herself well on the day, constantly snuffing out the right side of the Miami attack.

For the rest, Senior Night this year signifies a sea change for the program. Thanks to red-shirt years, Zandi and Torres have been on Grounds for five years, Ivory came back for her covid fifth year, and owing to both, Sieracki has played for six years. If Ordonez is graduating this year, then she follows Ashlynn Serepca in graduating in just seven semesters. A truly remarkable accomplishment. Diana, you’ve done Mr Jefferson proud. Congratulations.

Reading the Tea Leaves: Senior Night is a time to honor those departing and it is significant that fourth year seniors Claire Constant, Rebecca Jarrett, and Alexa Spaanstra were not so honored. Spaanstra and Constant have a year of covid eligibility remaining -- while Jarrett also could probably red-shirt -- and this might indicate that they are returning. Spaanstra and Jarrett certainly have professional prospects and have played with many of the youth national teams. I don’t know if the same is true for Constant. Maybe the trio wants to get their master’s degrees.

By the same token, this would indicate that Ordonez is off after this year. She’s scored a ton of goals in her stay in Charlottesville, but it’s only been this year that I’ve felt that she has professional prospects. She’s a natural center forward and she could stand to get stronger if she wants to play professionally. Maybe she’s just a young woman in a hurry.

Injury Notes: For the second game Samar Guidry did not play. I scanned the few team shots on the broadcast, but didn’t see her.

Up Next: The Big One. Virginia travels to Tallahassee to take on Florida State on Thursday, October 28th. The Seminoles had a rough trip to the state of North Carolina, drawing with UNC last weekend and losing to Duke midweek. Virginia is now a full game ahead of FSU in the race to the regular season title and only need a draw to secure the title. I will again venture Behind-The-Lines with FSU writer Prince Akeem Joffer as we preview the game. Should be out by Wednesday.

 

Virginia wraps up the ACC regular season title. HoosPlace game report: https://hoosplace.com/2021/10/29/wsoccer/6408/

When a Draw is as Good as a Win

Florida State has had Virginia’s number in recent years, defeating the Cavaliers in the 2014 and 2015 ACC Finals, again in the 2014 National Championship game, and even last year in the semifinal College Cup game. But on this night, when a draw would give Virginia only their third ACC regular season title, the Cavs would not be denied.

In a battle between two true titans, both Florida State and Virginia had a great goal, both teams had a great opportunity that hit the woodwork, and both teams got superlative saves from their keepers when needed.

Florida State 1
Virginia 1

Florida State fans were no doubt thrilled to see Gabby Carle in the starting lineup, as she has been absent for international duty the past two weeks. She only played 2 minutes so that she could be honored on Senior Night, but it was enough to know that their team was whole again. Virginia fans had to wait a bit longer, about 23 minutes, to witness the return of Samar Guidry, who had missed the past two games due to injury. Guidry is an electrifying force at left back and it would only take her 40 minutes or so to provide the service that would secure the ACC season title.

The first half was a seesaw battle that if it were being scored a la boxing, the Cavaliers might have “won.” The first half’s best chances were created by Virginia and the Cavs got their best open look in just the fifth minute when a ball in the FSU box was poorly cleared in the melee and fell to Lia Godfrey. Godfrey snapped off a blast only to be denied by a sparkling save by FSU keeper Christina Roque.

Virginia’s other best chance came around the 32 minute mark as Godfrey and Diana Ordonez combined for a shot that FSU couldn’t clear away and the ball fell to Guidry who slotted the ball to Ordonez. Ordonez hit a fine shot, one that was going in, except for Jody Brown, who is growing by leaps and bounds in her own right, was on the line to head the ball up and into the crossbar. The Seminoles were able to clear that ball properly. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s Florida State keeper +1, Florida State woodwork +1.

Florida State’s best chance came in between these two Virginia play when Kristin Pavlisko drove to the edge of the box and slipped the ball to Jenna Nighswonger who had time. The shot deflected off of Claire Constant, the kind of deflection that is a keeper’s worst nightmare, but Laurel Ivory got down low for the save. +1 to the Virginia keeper.

The first ended with the score knotted at 0 – 0 and the second half began as the Virginia fan in me was dreading, with Florida State immediately on the front foot. There are few coaches who are able to so motivate his players at halftime as FSU’s Mark Krikkorian. Florida State is such a poised, skilled team that sometimes they forget how pacy and direct they can be. Oh, and in this game, they forgot just how physical they can be, because the Noles ramped that up, too.

Virginia is not a physical team, and while you cannot play Godfrey or Taryn Torres or Claire Constant off the ball, the Cavs are susceptible to teams that play rough. And Florida State came out determined to throw their weight around. Grabbing, pushing, shoving, full bodied sliding tackles. FSU brought out the whole arsenal. The ref wasn’t having any of it though, as he handed out three yellow cards to FSU and probably passed on a fourth that occurred a split second after the ball had been whistled out of bounds. The women’s game sees far fewer yellow cards – maybe because everyone still expects women to play more daintily – so this ref clearly felt that FSU was over the line.

So it was against the run of play, then, that Virginia got on the board first. Eighteen minutes in, Haley Hopkins was dispossessed of the ball on the left. A streaking Guidry collected the ball in stride, drove to the end line and crossed the ball to an in-rushing Ordonez who directed the ball, point blank, into the back of the net. Such is the element that Guidry brings.

A great job by Guidry on the ball in and what a finish by Ordoñez to put the Hoos in front.

Watch on ACC Network: https://t.co/barJMuYUtE#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN ⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/u93cSLkg4L

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) October 29, 2021

Virginia’s lead was short-lived. Less than four minutes later, a couple of passes found Yujie Zhao, 30 yards from goal, and wide open. I’m not sure who had primary responsibility for covering Zhao at that moment, but you cannot leave a player of her quality that wide open. She unleashed a cannonball into the top right of the goal. It was a perfect strike and Ivory had no chance.

YUJIE ZHAO!!!! 😱

📺: ACC Network pic.twitter.com/9Bey9po1ui

— FSU Soccer (@FSUSoccer) October 29, 2021

Both teams had quality looks over the final 20 minutes, looks that might have been converted if either team were playing lesser teams. At this level? FSU vs UVa? The margins are smaller and it’s hard to score.

The two overtime periods were a reprise of the second half. Both teams created opportunities, opportunities that went lacking. With just a minute left in the game, it was time for the woodwork to save Virginia. Clara Robbins, who has seemingly scored most of her goals against Virginia, got the ball in the box and slotted her shot low, toward the right corner. It was a great shot, Ivory was beat, but the ball hit the upright and squirted away from every Seminole in the box. Final score: Virginia 1, Florida State 1, goalpost 2.

With the tie, Virginia wins just the third ACC regular season title under Steve Swanson and gets the result versus Florida State when silverware is on the line. Oh, and we’re ranked #1. With the win, Virginia gets the “easier” side of the bracket for the ACC tourney, given that a presuming that it is Duke vs Florida State in the other semifinal. Virginia had already secured a first-round bye for the tournament, a tournament it should be noted, will be missing North Carolina for the first time ever. Such was the strength of the ACC this year that the team currently ranked #7 in the country, and who had taken both Virginia and Florida State to 120-minute draws, is on the outside looking in.

Next Up: The winner of the Notre Dame vs Clemson game on Friday, October 5th at 5:30pm.

 

Virginia v High Point game report, such as it is. I couldn't think of much to write, especially with the men's hoops tipping off in the middle of this game. https://hoosplace.com/2021/11/13/wsoccer/6545/

Virginia Dispatches High Point

The men tipped off at the neighboring JPJ as the women were beginning the second half, firmly in control, and delivering a pointed lesson in how a #1 seed dispatches a 16 seed. High Point was largely cannon fodder for a rampaging Virginia team that was eager to banish their collective Clara Robbins-induced PTSD.


Virginia has only faced High Point once before, also in the first round of the NCAA tourney. The result was similar as the Cavs have now put 14 goals past the Panthers in those two games. I’m sure it was a dispiriting end to a fine season for Brandi Fontaine’s crew.


Virginia 6
High Point 0


Let’s just get the goals out of the way:

12th Minute – High Point Own Goal
17th Minute – Sydney Zandi (unassisted)
20th Minute – Alexis Theoret (Laney Rouse)
41st Minute – Sarah Brunner (Brianna Jablonowski)
60th Minute – Diana Ordoñez (Haley Hopkins)
71st Minute – Kira Maguire (Emma Dawson)

High Point was never in the game. By my count, it took almost 30 minutes for the Panthers to complete their 10th pass in Virginia’s half and probably seven of those were because they kicked off four times and they’d been spotted the ball right at midfield.

Virginia got their first two good chances about 9 and 10 minutes into the game when, first, Alexis Theoret struck a cross that would have made Courtney Petersen proud, to Diana Ordonez. She missed. Ordonez is a fine striker, and she’d go one to score her 16th goal of the season, but she squanders a lot of good chances.

A minute later, Laney Rouse beat her defender to the end line and lined up Haley Hopkins whose subsequent shot lacked any real power. I’ve thought that Rouse is the weak link on the team, wishing that coach Steve Swanson would start either Lizzie Sieracki or Sarah Clark ahead of her. But on this day, she channeled her inner Samar Guidry and she was an absolute terror down the right side. Freed from any real defensive responsibilities she was free to attack and overlap all game long. And she would get an assist on Theoret’s goal.

Other than the Hopkins-to-Ordonez goal, the rest of the goal scoring came not from the usual suspects. Sarah Brunner and Kira Maguire scored their first ever goals as Cavaliers, while Emma Dawson and Brianna Jablonowski recorded their first assists while wearing Virginia’s colors. Zandi’s goal was only her second of the year and Rouse’s assist was likewise her second assist of the fall. From a fan’s perspective, it was heartwarming to see everyone get involved. For the record, 16 different women have scored for Virginia this year, which ties the program high set in 2014 and matched in 2018.

HIGHLIGHTS | The Hoos got first career goals from Sarah Brunner and Kira Maguire on the way to a 6-0 victory over High Point in the NCAA Tournament opener.#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN ⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/fwG2uoecI7

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) November 13, 2021

There was one interesting tactical note, to the game. Virginia dumped in a lot of crosses this game and it must have come from Swanson. It wouldn’t surprise me if speculative crosses into the box numbered 25. It’s an important weapon in any team’s arsenal, but crosses like this are wasteful, which is why they’ve gone out of favor in the modern game. Even a totally outmatched team like High Point can be successful defensively in that particular mode. And Virginia kept crossing even when Hopkins and Ordonez were sitting.

Injury Watch: Samar Guidry started and played her usual minutes. After missing two games and then coming off the bench for the last two games, this was a welcome development.

Lia Godfrey did not play. The ACC Network deployed just a single television camera (though there was one goal reviewed under VAR, so maybe there were additional cameras) so I was unable to see the Virginia bench.

Lacey McCormack did not play. She’s played in the last four games and has been the player trusted to spell either Claire Constant or Talia Staude over the second half of the season. But she was a no-show on this day.

Next Up: Virginia will host Milwaukee, 1 – 0 victor over Xavier this Friday, November 19th. Game time to be determined.

 

This one wasn't close, either. BYU awaits: https://hoosplace.com/2021/11/19/wsoccer/6576/


The Milwaukee Panthers came to Klockner sporting some of the gaudiest stat lines, on both sides of the ball, in collegiate soccer. Milwaukee seniors boast a career .875 winning percentage (77 – 8 – 7) and four straight trips to the NCAAs. Unfortunately, playing in something called the Horizon League, didn’t prepare the Panthers for Virginia.

Milwaukee was (a.) the second highest scoring team in the NCAA, (b.) possessed the highest goals per-game average, while having (c.) the best goals against average. In other words, Milwaukee had, by the stats that matter the most, the best offense and the best defense. But the most eye-popping stat of all might be their 74 – 0 – 0 record over the past four years when the Panthers score first. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a stat in soccer that is so one-sided.

Virginia 2
Milwaukee 0

Coach Steve Swanson has helmed Virginia for 500 games, as of this game. The difference in experience between Swanson and his counterpart – only in his fourth year – set the tone for entire game. Milwaukee was never in the game. Not really. They only had two total shots in the game – both were fairly weak and from outside the penalty box – and by my recollection, they only completed a single pass inside the Virginia penalty box.

It’s not to say that Milwaukee bunkered, didn’t try, or even gave up. They were just outclassed. The game was extremely choppy -- fairly heavy rain leading up to kickoff and for the first 15 minutes, and then dropping temperatures and a stiff wind for the second half – and neither team was able to control the ball. There were probably as many throw-ins that I have seen in a soccer game, which I attribute to hard defensive work causing unforced errors and denying the point of attack.

The work that Virginia put in on practicing their crosses versus High Point came to fruition in this game. Diana Ordonez, who became the 3rd leading scorer in program history with her two-goal brace against Milwaukee, was the intended target on both assisting crosses. The first came 25 minutes into the first half and was delivered by Samar Guidry. Ordonez had been the recipient of three quality crosses already by this point in the game – and she’d failed to convert – but this header in to the upper netting of the goal was all but unstoppable. The second goal, coming late in the second to ice the game, was delivered by Alexa Spaanstra. Spaanstra had gotten baseline by laying waste to a pair of Milwaukee defenders, and she sent in a sharp pass to an on-rushing Ordonez who simply had to re-direct the ball into the back of the net. It was a classic striker’s goal. And representing just the 8th goal that Milwaukee had surrendered all season, it doomed the Panthers and sent them back home early.



By that time the game had gotten pretty chippy. I thought the ref had done a fine job on the night and there were no obvious blown calls or hard tackles. But the players across the board were complaining more about calls/non-calls. Diana Ordonez thinks everything is a foul and every out of bounds ball should result in a Virginia throw or corner kick. Seeing her complain doesn’t mean a lot. But when you see Talia Staude or Lia Godfrey gesticulating or talking to the ref, well, something more is going on on the field. And it must have gotten to the Virginia coaching staff because after Ordonez scored her second goal, some unspecified Virginia coach got a yellow card. You don’t often see such displays after one has iced the game.

Injury Watch: Lia Godfrey was back in the starting lineup and played her usual minutes. Her quad/thigh was wrapped in a compression sleeve and the announcer made reference to her niggling injury that had kept her out of the High Point game.

Lacey McCormack was back in action and was able to spell Claire Constant the last 7 minutes of the game.

Next Up. Milwaukee may have been the second highest scoring team in the country, but Virginia gets to follow this game with a matchup versus BYU, the highest scoring team in the country. BYU doesn’t play on Sundays, so the match will be Saturday, November 20th at 7pm. Enjoying the fruits of a #1 seed, this game will also be at home.

Each sport has its own set of distinctives, those aspects that set it apart from every other sport. One of my favorite distinctives in baseball is the notion that each team gets its fair ups. The clock can’t run out and it doesn’t matter what the score it. Regardless of whatever else might have gone wrong for a team thus far, every team knows it will get its turn in the ninth. I loved the old ACC where every team got a home and home pairing with each and every other team in the conference. It didn’t matter what happened in the first matchup, there would be a second game, a second chance at redemption.

This doesn’t happen often in soccer, but BYU has been given the ultimate redemptive experience. Last year BYU got as it’s reward for a #4 seeding and its record as the highest-scoring team in the land, a second-round matchup with an unseeded Virginia team. BYU was really good and dominated the Cavaliers in midfield like few teams have done. Virginia keeper Laurel Ivory made a trio of first class saves to prevent Virginia from having been blown out in the first five minutes of the game. I guarantee that BYU had this potential matchup highlighted in red the instant the brackets were revealed. BYU has a lot to prove and the requisite firepower to threaten the end of Virginia’s season.

Miscelaneous: Jeff White had a particularly nice profile of Sydney Zandi ahead of the Milwaukee game. Zandi has been a three-year starter at Virginia, and it’s somewhat strange to talk about a fifth-year senior “making the leap,” but she has. She went from splitting time with Anna Sumpter last year, to being the most active of Virginia’s midfielders.

 

BYU came. They saw. They conquered. HoosPlace game report: https://hoosplace.com/2021/11/21/wsoccer/6581/

The seeding committee did Virginia no favors by slotting Brigham Young in the same quadrant as ours. BYU was always going to have the motivational edge in this game following their loss to UVa in the second round of last year’s tournament. Of course, that loss, due to COVID wrecking the season, came just five months ago, so the wounds were especially fresh.

All losses are not equal. This one hurts. I’m not sure exactly when I became aware of the streaming of niche collegiate sports such as women’s soccer, but I’ve only been following Steve Swanson and the women for five years now. Or in other words, as long as Laurel Ivory, Taryn Torres, Sydney Zandi and Lizzie Sieracki have been patrolling the pitch. Five years is an eternity in the world of collegiate sports and I’ve been blessed to watch the progress and growth of that quartet. It will be jarring to watch the Cavaliers next year without them, and to be honest, I’m depressed knowing that this was their last game for Mr Jefferson’s University.

Virginia 0
BYU 1

BYU has been the highest scoring team in the country over the past two years and it doesn’t take long, watching them on the pitch, to see why. Their overall team speed is great, they counter with numbers and surgical precision, and they are very fast at changing the point of attack. Virginia is more methodical, and while Swanson has been at Virginia longer than Tony Bennett, I would presume he approves of how Bennett’s Boys control the tempo and the clock on the hardwood. Many teams have tried to press Virginia high and hard, seeking to disrupt Virginia’s control. Most fail. We’re really good, after all. But on this night, Virginia never got comfortable bringing the ball up and the women had to work harder just to get the ball to midfield. It was a strain all night long.

The half started brightly for Virginia as they quickly advanced the opening kickoff and it led to a fine Lia Godfrey shot. After missing the Milwaukee game, it was good to see Godfrey back on the pitch and she looked none the worse for wear. She would lead Virginia in shots, notching 6 on the night. But 12 minutes in, Sydney Zandi was lost for the game when her knee was bent too far back (the extreme opposite of hyperextension, I would say) on a tackle. Alexis Theoret came in, and she’s been a revelation this year, but much of the midfield depth that Swanson relies upon was lost and BYU is just too good to lose someone as critical as Sydney Zandi.

Virginia had chances in the first half, especially a side volley that came off Haley Hopkins foot following a corner. To fans in the stands and streaming viewers alike, it looked like a goal. BYU’s best opportunity came from Cameron Tucker, one of BYU’s two 16-goal scorers. Laurel Ivory was beaten, but the shot just grazed off the upright. Midway through the first half, Swanson flipped Alexa Spaanstra and Hopkins, trying to figure out a way to create better chances, but I have to say, that the players of the match for BYU were their two outside backs, Olivia Smith and Kendall Petersen, who did a great job staying in front of Hopkins and Spaanstra all night long. Neither were able to get to the end line, though Hopkins really tried, and as a result, Diana Ordonez logged just one shot for the game. That’s a recipe for failure.

I noted in the first half that Virginia was losing many of the 50-50 balls, balls that they usually win. Balls where two players arrive at the same time, or make initial contact at the same time. The kind of plays where the ball squirts out, or one player goes to ground. We weren’t winning those. Tight game. Quality opponent. Every possession matters.

It didn’t take long in the second half for BYU to prove me prophetic. On a loose ball that Claire Constant tried to send long, Cameron Tucker got there simultaneously and the ball squibbed forward maybe 15 yards to a BYU player. Tucker was on her feet faster than Constant. The ball was sent forward to Mikayla Colohan. Torres was covering and had a better line to the ball, but they both hit the ball and it went directly to Tucker, who pounced, ran right at Talia Staude, drove into the box, and hit a perfect curling shot into the top right corner of the goal. 1 – 0 BYU and it was all they would need.

BYU advances and Virginia’s season is over. 64 teams make the tournament. Only one of them is going home happy. Last year it was BYU, this time it’s Virginia’s turn. Such is the nature of sport.

Before giving the final word to Steve Swanson, I do want to point out the remarkable career of Laurel Ivory. With this game, she started 100 games in goal for Virginia. Usually, the only players who get a fifth year are red-shirts, and they got that fifth year because they were injured. Ivory got her fifth year courtesy of COVID, and because she walked into the starting slot as a freshman, and because Virginia plays deep into both conference and NCAA tournaments, she gets more games. 100 starts for one team. That’s one hell of an accomplishment. Brava, Laurel, brava.

And because Swanson is the consummate coach, he’s going to say all the right things, even in a bitter defeat like this one:

“Congratulations to BYU. They played very hard and it was a very hard-fought game. It had the feel of a College Cup game for sure. There wasn’t much separating the teams and I felt similar last year when we played them. They have some very good offensive firepower and a good transition game. I thought for the most part we did a good job of minimizing it. You’re not going to stop an attack like BYU’s, but we did a good job of minimizing it. You have to give their player credit for coming down and finishing that shot. We had our chances. We needed to do a better job of controlling the tempo. That got away from us a little bit which played into their hands.

I’m incredibly proud of the team and the season we had. It’s hard now because the reality is our season is over and that’s sad because we won’t be together for a little bit. It’s always a tough thing when that ends.”

 

We're losing Taryn Torres, Sydney Zandi, Laurel Ivory and Lizzie Sieracki, in addition to the aforementioned Ordonez.

The word I don't have yet concerns Spaanstra, Jarrett and Claire Constant. All are fourth year and none were feted at Senior Day. I presume they're staying for another year, it at the very least, NOT definitely leaving.

 

No idea about who's coming. The class of 2021 did not impress. Degen Miller was our fifth forward off the bench, and didn't impress. Kiki Maki was a 4* and played maybe 15 minutes before, presumably, being red shirted. I have to hope this next class is better.

It all depends on the status of the Spaanstra-Jarrett-Constant trio. If they come, we'll be just fine. We have a better shot stopper to replace Ivory, a possibly better Torres for the center of the pitch, and depth in the back, even if Constant should leave. Zandi is going to be hardest to replace.

We get the Trio back, we'll be good. I hope to have Swanson on my podcast after the New Year, and asking about their status is question 1A for him.

 

For sure.

But it is the very essence of collegiate sports that players depart after relatively short stays. Torres and Ivory were always going to have to be replaced. For as long as I've been able to follow the women, Ivory and Torres have been on the pitch.

But in their two cases I think we have ready made replacements, as well as should Constant depart. I love Torres. Once McLernon left, I thought my favorite player to watch would Spaanstra. Turned out to be Taryn. But with the emergence of Alexis Theoret, I'm not dreading Torres' departure.

Every good team loses, and misses, their departing players. Nature of the beast and all.

 

Diana Ordonez went #6 today to the NC Courage.

To be honest, I didn't think she was a first-round talent, so bravo to her.