Frustrations Continue for UVA Women's Soccer in 3-3 Draw at Virginia Tech

The Cavaliers scored three straight goals in the second half to take the lead, but surrendered two late goals to draw with the Hokies in Blacksburg

For a moment, it seemed the Cavaliers had disrupted a disturbing trend developing over the past few games. 

After falling behind 1-0 despite outplaying the Hokies in the first half - a common factor in UVA's disappointing results against Florida State and Syracuse last week - Virginia rallied in the second half and scored three-straight goals to seemingly take control of the match.

But, as has been the case recently for the Cavaliers, they committed a few fatal errors at critical moments and failed to close out the win. Virginia Tech scored two goals in the final 11 minutes, including one with just 41 seconds remaining, and salvaged a 3-3 draw with the Virginia women's soccer team on Thursday night in Blacksburg. 

UVA had a flurry of scoring opportunities right away and it appeared that it would not take long for the Cavaliers to jump out in front. But, the Virginia Tech defense and goalkeeper Lauren Hargrove, who made two saves in the first half, stood tall to keep the match scoreless. 

In the 31st minute, Virginia Tech earned a corner and UVA goalkeeper Cayla White got a hand on the cross but the ball went right to Taylor Price, who headed it back towards the goal. Haley Hopkins tried to block the ball with her body on the goal line, but it glanced off her thigh and into the back of the net to give the Hokies the 1-0 lead. 

Virginia had a chance for an immediate equalizer right after that as Lia Godfrey took a well-placed shot from just beyond the box, but Hargrove made a diving save to keep the Cavaliers off the board. 

The Hokies nearly doubled their lead late in the half as a miscue by the UVA defense left Allie George wide open in the box. Fortunately for the Hoos, George sent her shot over the crossbar, otherwise UVA would have been staring down a 2-0 deficit at halftime. 

At long last, Virginia flipped the switch coming out of halftime. Just four minutes into the second half, Alexa Spaanstra sent a beautiful through ball from the midfield past the Virginia Tech defense that found a cutting Jill Flammia in stride. The freshman Flammia touched the ball once to her left to sidestep Hargrove, who had come way out to the edge of the box to challenge Flammia. With an empty net to shoot on, Flammia quickly sent a left-footed dribbler that just barely snuck past the remaining defender and went inside the far post to tie the match at 1-1. 

Just 13 seconds later, the Cavaliers were celebrating again after taking the lead. Virginia Tech defender Victoria Haugen turned the ball over outside her own box as she tried to play it along the back line but left her pass too short. Haley Hopkins raced ahead and stole the ball and placed a perfect shot in the top left corner of the goal to give UVA the lead. 

Then, in the 59th minute, Maggie Cagle drew a foul on the right wing just outside the box that resulted in a free kick for Virginia. Alexis Theoret served in a brilliant cross and Haley Hopkins headed the ball in with ease for her second goal of the match and 10th goal of the season, giving UVA a 3-1 lead. Flammia's and Hopkins' goals were scored just 13 seconds apart, the fastest two goals in succession by Virginia in program history. 

At first, the Cavaliers kept their foot on the gas and continued to generate offensive opportunities, but eventually they became passive and tried to kill the remaining minutes off the clock. 

Virginia Tech became the aggressor and it paid off. Emma Pelkowski sent a through ball and Tori Powell touched it ahead to Taylor Bryan, who took a shot that was partially blocked by Cayla White, but still found its way into the back of the net to cut the deficit back to one goal. 

The Hokies continued to go on the offensive, while the Cavaliers tried to coast to the finish line. With less than a minute to go, it was Taylor Bryan again who played the part of the hero for Virginia Tech, taking a sliding shot with her left foot to get the ball around Samar Guidry, who was draped all over her. White again got a piece of the shot, but not enough to prevent it from crossing the goal line for the equalizer. 

For the second match in a row, the Cavaliers threw away a conference victory by surrendering an equalizing goal in the final minute. Virginia and Virginia Tech will split the women's soccer point for the Commonwealth Clash, bringing the score of the 2022-2023 Commonwealth Clash to 1.5-0.5 in favor of UVA. 

Now 10-2-3 and 3-2-2 in ACC play, Virginia returns home to face Wake Forest next Thursday night at Klockner Stadium.

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