Virginia Women’s Soccer: ACC Tourney Recap, Part I

I’m betting that neither FSU’s Bryan Pensky nor Stanford’s Paul Ratcliff really wanted to see Virginia, for a second time, in the ACC tournament. Virginia is supremely well-coached and disciplined, they attack space as well as anyone, and they are too good to casually think you can beat them twice in a season.

Virginia proved that case versus FSU, sending the Seminoles packing after a near-perfect display from both teams at the penalty spot in the shoot-out. And after going down 3 – 0 to Stanford at half time, Virginia re-grouped and came roaring back to narrow the deficit to one, with one Lia Godfrey crossbar away from going to extra time.

Both games followed the same pattern: both FSU and Stanford came out of the starting gates pressing high and running rampant in midfield. FSU jumped all over Virginia, earning a pair of corners in just the first six minutes. FSU had a pair of nice chances within minutes of the opening whistle and it looked like it was going to be a long night for Virginia.

But the Hoos weathered the storm and had a pair of lovely chances of their own forty seconds apart as Addison Halpern had a lovely drive from midfield resulting in perhaps the best struck ball she has hit all year. On the ensuing corner kick, Godfrey almost slotted home from the back of the 18-yard box.

Despite a couple of quality looks, FSU dominated the first half and Virginia was fortunate to go into the locker room even.

Head coach Steve Swanson conjured up another halftime miracle – seriously, I hope folks are taping his halftime pep talks – and the Cavaliers roared out of the gate for the second half. It probably helped that FSU’s Jordynn Dudley went down with a non-contact injury and was lost for the remainder of the game. Sophia Nguyen would also depart from the game. Injuries suck and all, but Virginia was missing two starters as well, Liv Rademaker and Jill Flammia. This just brought the two sides even.

The goal keepers, Virginia’s Victoria Safradin and FSU’s Kate Ockene, were the stars as each had a pair of game-saving stops in the second half and in the two overtime periods.

And so the game went to penalty kicks. Normally, I live for a PK shootout. There is no more gut-wrenching cauldron in all of sport than penalty kicks. I think it is the walk. Both teams line up at midfield and each designated penalty taker walks from midfield to the penalty spot where the referee and the opposing team’s goalkeeper await. Soccer is the most dynamic of games and yet in the most crucial of moments, it becomes static. There is nowhere for a penalty taker to hide and she knows that her penalty take is supposed to be 100%. It’s a big goal – 8 yards by 8 feet – and with a relatively short-statured woman acting as gatekeeper. And yet with the walk, the pressure to score, the jarring shift in dynamics, someone is going to choke.

And since I have been watching Virginia soccer, it has usually been the Cavaliers who have done the choking. I have seen some amazingly sucky Virginia PKs. Last time UVa faced FSU in PKs, not a single Cavalier converted and FSU won 3 – 0. Last year, in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Virginia fell to Wisconsin on penalties 4 – 2. Swanson so mismanaged his lineup that he brought in Linda Mittermair, who had not played a second of the game, to take the fourth, and deciding penalty, cold. No wonder she missed.

So, I am not ashamed to tell you that I couldn’t watch this shootout in real time. I couldn’t take another loss to FSU, a team that has beaten us in seven of the last eleven meetings and that had won five straight ACC tournaments. It is a pity that I wussed out, because this shoot out was a thing of beauty.

First off, Jordynn Dudley returned and took the first penalty. It was a Kirk Gibson kind of moment and undoubtedly makes her a legend in FSU annals. Well, since she made it and all. Maggie Cagle answered for Virginia. Wrianna Hudson was good for the ‘Noles; Ella Carter answered for the Hoos. Taylor Suarez converted for FSU and here is where it starts to get interesting for Virginia: Swanson chose a player who had not logged a single minute in the game, freshman Jordyn Hardeman, to take the shot. And she made it. Florida State made their fourth and fifth PKs and responded with two more freshmen, Pearl Cecil and Addison Halpern. Cecil just got back from playing in the U17 World Cup, so maybe there was no pressure on her, but selecting three freshmen to take part in sports’ most grueling exercise is either a stroke of genius, or it is just a stroke.

FSU missed the sixth penalty and up stepped Maya Carter. Carter is one of the more heartwarming stories of the season. A three-year, often overlooked sub as a striker, Carter has moved back to defense and been something of a revelation, logging almost starter’s minutes the last two games in Rademaker’s absence.

Carter nailed the spot kick and Virginia knocked off FSU in the ACC tournament. To repeat, Florida State had won five straight tournaments. This was a major win for the team and for Maya Carter personally.

Virginia would head to Cary, North Carolina to take on the new national #1, Stanford.

Take a bow, Maya Carter. You earned it.