No. 3 Seminoles score early, hang on to beat No. 2 Virginia, 1-0

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

A first-minute goal proved to be the difference on Thursday night, as No. 2 Virginia dropped a 1-0 match to No. 3 Florida State at Klöckner Stadium.

GOALS
1’ – FSU: Jody Brown (unassisted)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Florida State (9-0-2, 5-0-0 ACC) struck in the opening minute when Jody Brown’s shot from a one-on-one chance deflected off the cross bar and in for the goal. The scoring opportunity came as a Seminole pass forward on the attack was broken up by a Virginia defender, but the deflected ball caromed to Brown in stride in the box for the finish.

Virginia (10-2-1, 3-2-0) would press the attack in the second half, pelting Florida State with 15 shots to only three taken by the Seminoles in the second half, but the early goal would stand as the difference in the result.

NOTES

• Virginia is now 21-11-8 all-time against Florida State and lead the series 10-3-1 at Klöckner Stadium.
• The Hoos out-shot FSU 21-to-6 for the night and held a 7-to-3 edge in corners – including six in the second half.
• The Cavaliers and Seminoles played in front of a crowd of 3,082 which is the fourth-largest crowd in UVA women’s soccer history for a game that was not part of a doubleheader.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON

“It was a tough loss. I thought we had a good effort. For the most part our performance was good, but we were inconsistent at times and against good teams you have to be consistent all the way through. We created enough chances to get goals and we didn’t finish. The quality in the attacking third for a game like this wasn’t as good as it had to be. We feel like it’s a bit of a lost opportunity, but I was proud of the effort. We came back, worked hard to get this amazing crowd into the game and we almost had it there. Their goalkeeper made some really good saves. The difference in the game was little plays here and there and they obviously made one more than we did.”

UP NEXT

Virginia will return to action on Sunday when the Cavaliers host Syracuse in a 2 p.m. game at Klöckner Stadium.