Virginia Women's Soccer Falls to Duke 2-1 in ACC First Round

Virginia's quest for a third ACC Women's Soccer championship will have to wait another year. The No. 4-seeded Cavaliers hosted No. 5-seed Duke, a team that UVA had beaten 1-0 in Durham back on October 2nd. It was a different story this time around, however, as the Blue Devils scored within the first three minutes and then added a second goal in the second half to regain the lead as Duke knocked off Virginia 2-1 in the first round of the ACC Women's Soccer Championship on Sunday night at Klockner Stadium.

Virginia won the possession battle for the most part and that included the first two and a half minutes of the match. The Cavaliers worked the ball around the midfield and created an early chance in the box - so far so good. Then, Duke suddenly made a quick play to flip the script as Maggie Graham gained possession and made a quick pass to Kat Rader, who moved it ahead and sent a great through ball to speedy forward Michelle Cooper. Getting behind the UVA back line and streaking towards the goal from the right side, Cooper took advantage of the fastbreak opportunity and sent her shot past Cayla White and inside the far post to give the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead just 2:44 into the match.

That's the third time this season that the Cavaliers have surrendered a goal within the first five minutes of a match.

Virginia did well to respond to the challenge of surrendering the early goal, quickly generating several scoring opportunities on the other end. Lia Godfrey, Maggie Cagle, and Haley Hopkins each had chances over the next few minutes but couldn't get their shots on frame. That ended up being the story of the evening for the Cavaliers, who had only two shots on goal as compared to Duke's four despite outshooting the Blue Devils 10-6.

After generating several scoring chances but failing to capitalize on them, the Cavaliers finally broke through in the 36th minute. Talia Staude pushed the ball up the left wing and sent a pass up ahead to Lia Godfrey, who used a quick, but brilliant touch to send it along to Alexa Spaanstra behind the defense. Spaanstra touched it ahead with her right foot and then fired a shot with her left foot from just a few feet away from the goal. Her shot fit perfectly in the tight window and got around Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones and inside the far post for the crucial equalizer.

36' | UVA 1, DU 1

Spaanstra with the equalizer!

Talia Staude finds Lia Godfrey for the connection with Spaanstra and we're tied up!#GoHoos🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/HFbVsO1A4V
— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) October 31, 2022

UVA seized all momentum following the goal and the chances just kept coming. The Cavaliers didn't find the back of the net and went into halftime with the match tied at 1-1, but there was certainly plenty for Hoos to be pleased about given the way they had responded to Duke's early goal.

In the second half, Alexa Spaanstra continued to have a lot of success working with the ball on the left wing as Duke's defenders struggled to stay in front of her. But, none of Spaanstra's runs resulted in shots on goal for the Cavaliers. In the 48th minute, Spaanstra made a move and sent in a pass to Maggie Cagle, but Cagle got under the ball too much and her shot lifted above the crossbar.

While the Cavaliers amassed a large number of scoring opportunities through their regular offense, the Blue Devils made much more out of their chances, creating high-quality looks off of transition opportunities created by Kat Rader and Michelle Cooper.

In the 55th minute, Duke took advantage of one such fastbreak opportunity as Cooper sent a pass ahead to Rader on the right wing. UVA defender Samar Guidry gave her too much room to work with as she entered the box and Rader was able to unleash a shot that found the back left corner of the goal to put the Blue Devils back on top.

Virginia again responded with immediate offensive pressure, as Laney Rouse sent an accurate cross from the right wing in to Hopkins, who got a head on the ball but it bounced wide right of the post. A few minutes later, Guidry served in a cross that bounced off the crossbar before bouncing back into play and a Duke defender headed the ball out. The ensuing UVA corner resulted in a shot on goal for Rouse, but it was saved by Ruthie Jones. That would be UVA's second and final shot on goal of the match.

Virginia had a few free kick opportunities from around the box, but the Duke defense played those set pieces well, making sure to tag Haley Hopkins closely and not give her any room to elevate for a header.

In the final few minutes of the match, Hopkins had a couple of shots from inside the box, but both of them sailed over the top of the crossbar. It was an uncharacteristically inaccurate shooting night for Hopkins, who didn't place a single of her four shots on the frame.

In the end, the Blue Devils hung on to take down the Cavaliers on their home turf, ending UVA's bid for the ACC Women's Soccer Championship. Virginia (13-3-3) will now have to bide its time and wait for the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket, which will be revealed on Monday, November 7th.

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