Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
No. 5 UVA Women's Soccer Plays VCU to Scoreless Draw
Virginia was hoping for a solid showing to wrap-up non-conference play and head into ACC action with momentum. Instead, none of the Cavaliers' 24 shots found the back of the net and the No. 5 UVA women's soccer team played VCU to a frustrating 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon at Klockner Stadium.
VCU entered the match with a 2-1-4 record, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that it's possible the Cavaliers overlooked their opponent, especially having scored 10 goals over their last two matches, including a 5-0 rout of then-No. 23 Memphis last Sunday. With ACC play right around the corner, UVA might have been caught looking ahead to a few heavyweight battles against conference rivals that loom on the horizon.
Whatever the reason, the Cavaliers did not execute to their normal standard on the offensive end. Despite outshooting VCU 24-7, Virginia failed to punch in a single goal. The Rams were far more accurate with their scoring chances, placing five of their seven shots on goal. UVA had just six of its 24 shots go on frame. Virginia also had a 6-0 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
Solid goalie play is a given in a shutout draw, but the goalkeepers for both squads played phenomenally. VCU keeper Whitney Horton had six saves to keep the Cavaliers off the board, including a stellar stop in the second half to block Virginia's best scoring chance of the match. With 25 minutes left, UVA had a great two-on-one chance with Alexa Spaanstra and Haley Hopkins pushing up on a fast break. Spaanstra passed the ball ahead to Hopkins, Virginia's leading scorer with seven goals on the season. Hopkins was left one-on-one with Whitney Horton, but the VCU goalie made a fantastic play to come off her line and block Hopkins' attempt with a sliding right leg.
Cayla White was also stellar in between the posts for Virginia, stopping all five of VCU's shots on goal. The most notable was a diving save on a first-half shot by Ella Higgins from the left wing.
Haley Hopkins led the Cavaliers with six shots and Alexa Spaanstra had three and both of them placed two shots on goal. UVA's other two shots on goal came from Lia Godfrey, but none found their mark.
The 0-0 draw is an undoubtedly unsatisfying outcome for the Cavaliers, who wanted to cap off their eight-match non-conference schedule with an eighth victory. But, UVA remains unbeaten on the season at 7-0-1 and ideally, this undesirable result will serve to refocus the Hoos as they enter ACC play and face some elite competition right away.
Up next, Virginia faces its toughest challenge of the season to date as the Cavaliers head down to Chapel Hill to take on No. 2 North Carolina (7-1) on Saturday at 6pm.
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