Skip to main content
Cavaliers Now

Virginia Women’s Soccer Runs Wild over La Salle

Jordynn Hardeman’s Olympico caps five-goal blitz as the Cavaliers slug the Explorers 7 -  0 at Klöckner.
Val Prochaska|
Jordyn Hardeman had the goal of the game.
Jordyn Hardeman had the goal of the game. | Virginia Athletics

I generally have very little use for, nor do I get much enjoyment from, 7 – 0 games against an outgunned opponent.  And despite stocking up on three of four of these teams a year, Virginia generally doesn’t explode so prolifically.  (The Cavaliers haven’t had an outburst like this since 2021 against Richmond.)

But this game was different, heralding not just a superior Virginia team but rather a different Virginia team.  We’re just three games into the season, small-sample-size territory to be sure, but head coach Steve Swanson’s new 5 – 2 – 2 – 1 is a smashing success.  There is so much more off-ball movement coming from the Hoos.  For well over a decade, Swanson rolled out a very vanilla (and very predictable) 4 – 3 -  3 alignment and dared other teams to stop us.  This team comes at you in waves.

The most significant players on a team employing a three-player back line are the two wingbacks who are even more responsible for providing width than the outside backs of a four-player back line.  And Swanson has them in spades this year.

It all starts with sophomore Liv Rademaker, whose fitness last year was suspect.  She played about 60 minutes a game last year and I thought that was tactical, but turns out it was actually physical.  Rademaker just didn’t have the stamina.  Well, that’s not a problem this year (she played all 45 minutes of the first half) and she was a terror on the left side.  Over on the right, I thought Kyra Koopman would take over starting duties pretty quickly, but Carrie Helfrich is growing into her role.  Throw in Reese Mattern on the right and Kira Waller on the left and there is so much wing-back depth that I might start referring to the group like I’m covering American football, talking about the “wing-back room.”  For the record, Waller is going to be a real contributor this season and yes, it is still early going, but she already looks like Virginia’s most natural aerial target since Hailey Hopkins.  (And yes, I know Waller’s just 5’ 6”.)

The other big difference between this year and last year is the movement of the central three attackers.  Forward Gio Canali is all over the place, playing from touch line to touch line.  Virginia has always been good on the ball, but with Canali leading the line, there is much more intricate, triangular interplay between Canali, the two attacking midfielders and the wingbacks. Even as La Salle immediately sat back in the low block, throwing pretty much everyone into defense, Virginia found space in a tight confines.  And this all starts with Canali.

Both Addie Halpern and Allie Ross are the beneficiaries of Canali’s presence.  For the last two years Ross has gotten stuck out on the wing, isolated as she was fulfilling Swanson’s dictum that wings stay wide.  The problem is that Ross is not a wing and she was not particularly effective.  Playing attacking midfielder gives her greater leeway and allows her movement to be a team asset.  And Halpern?   The space of midfield agrees with her and she’s much more dangerous.  She scored a pair in this game and now has scored four goals in three games.  Or as many goals as she scored all of last season.

So… rampant wing play.  Check.  Intricate passing and triangular passing that looked like it was off the training ground.  Check.  What else makes a blowout? Well, La Salle was just poor.  Tatum Galvin scored the first goal just six minutes into the game off a corner:

That’s about as wide open as you can be in the box

Four minutes later Canali scored.  Off a corner.  She actually has a defender on her this time, but Gio still is unimpeded on this header. 

And it only got worse for La Salle from there.  Halpern scored a minute later:

And got her brace three and a half minutes later…

For good measure, and capping an 18-minute, five-goal burst, Jordyn Hardeman scored this Olympico for her first ever collegiate goal.

A 5 – 0 lead at the half allowed Swanson to give lots of playing time to the bench which no doubt was as much fun for the casual fan as the Cavalier devotee. 

I am pretty sure that this is the first time we’ve seen Sarah Flammia, Jill’s sister, take the pitch.  She more than held her own.

The save of the game went to backup keeper Wickie Dunlap who had a great reaction save on a point blank shot from just outside the six-yard box.  And she did so while parrying the shot wide – much easier said than done – preserving the shutout for the team.

Helfrich and Waller scored their first ever collegiate goals.

(At this point, the women had beaten down their social media team as they didn't even bother to post Kira's goal.)

Kyndal Shuler is the victim of Allie Ross’ resurgence as an attacking mid.  She goes to goal a la Jill Flammia and she has a good feel for the game.

Helen Olszewski got her first regular season minutes.  Didn’t get to see her speed, put playing as an attacking mid she set up Aniyah Collier on a plate for a one-v-one with the keeper that, to be frank, Collier should have converted.  Actually, it was a fine save from a very beleaguered La Salle goalkeeper.  (Everybody ought to get their moments…)

The Verdict:  Two years ago Addison Halpern was on the roster for the Women’s U-20 World Cup.  This year, though she is still eligible, she’s been left off, even as Pearl Cecil and Gio Canali have been selected for the US and Brazilian U-20 teams instead.  That kind of slight?  It’s enough to give any competitor a chip on her shoulder.  Which could be a blessing for Virginia all season long.

Next Up:  Three years ago Steve Swanson scheduled just seven non-conference games in an attempt to ensure his players have the recovery periods they need.  He’s continued ever since and this is the team’s bye week, as it were.  Virginia hosts JMU next Thursday, August 27th, at 7:00pm.  The game can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for ten years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

Share on XFollow Jerzy_Walker