Hopkins Scores Hat Trick, No. 8 UVA Women's Soccer Powers Past Fairleigh Dickinson 5-0
Haley Hopkins scored her first-career hat trick on Sunday.
Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
Haley Hopkins played just 19 of a possible 45 minutes in the first half of Sunday's match, but apparently that was more than enough time for her to record the first hat trick of her six-year collegiate career. Hopkins scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the match and No. 8 Virginia women's soccer powered past Fairleigh Dickinson 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at Klockner Stadium.
After picking up a hard-fought 1-0 victory at No. 11 Georgetown on Thursday, it would have been understandable to see the Cavaliers come out of the gate with less energy against FDU.
Not so.
It took just over five minutes for Haley Hopkins to earn a penalty kick after getting tripped in the box by an FDU defender. The Knights' goalkeeper Malene Nielsen guessed to the right and Hopkins deposited her shot into the bottom left corner of the goal to get UVA on the board.
Three minutes later, fifth-year forward Alexa Spaanstra sent a brilliantly-struck through ball deep behind the FDU defense to find a streaking Hopkins, who got past the last defender and was left one-on-one with Malene Nielsen. Hopkins expertly chipped the ball past Nielsen and into the right side of the cage for her second goal of the match.
Just over 13 minutes in, Spaanstra was left wide open and took a hard right-footed shot from the edge of the box. Nielsen made the save, but the ball dribbled away from her and Hopkins was in the right place at the right time for clean-up duty, sweeping it into the back of the net for her first-career hat trick.
Fifth-year Michaela Moran made her first start of the season in goal for the Cavaliers, but she did not see much action in this one. Moran did not face a single shot in the first half, as Virginia dominated possession, leading 13-0 in shots and 9-0 in shots on goal. To her credit, Malene Nielsen did make five first-half saves to prevent the match from turning into an early bloodbath.
UVA added a fourth goal in the first half and this time it came from someone not named Haley Hopkins. The FDU defense misplayed a ball in its own box and junior defender Laney Rouse pounced on it, sending a strong left-footed shot into the top shelf for her first-career goal.
After subbing out for the last 25 minutes of the first half, Hopkins returned to the field to start the second half. Hopkins came about six inches away from finding her fourth goal of the match as she put a great touch on a pass from Rebecca Jarrett, but the ball just barely missed the far post.
In the 55th minute, Virginia struck again. On a free kick from a few feet outside the box, Alexis Theoret ran over the ball on a fake and then Lia Godfrey stepped into a perfect strike that found the top right corner of the cage for her first goal of the season.
Fairleigh Dickinson did have a few offensive chances later in the second half, but the UVA defense handled those with ease and closed out the 5-0 shutout.
With the win, Virginia improves to 4-0 on the season. Next up, UVA continues its five-match non-conference homestand with a pair of matches at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers will host JMU on Thursday at 5pm as the first part of a double-header with the Virginia men's soccer team, which also plays JMU on Thursday at 8pm. UVA will then host Memphis on Sunday at 6pm.
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