No. 3 Virginia rallies to knock off No. 2 Penn State, advances to NCAA Quarterfinals

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 3 seed Virginia women’s soccer team rallied with a pair of second-half goals and hit the game-winner in overtime to push the Cavaliers past No. 2 seed Penn State, 3-2, on Sunday night in State College, Pa.

Virginia (16-3-3) rallied twice in the second half to send the game into extra time before securing the win.

With the win, the Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament and will travel to face No. 1 seed UCLA next weekend (date and time TBA). The Bruins eliminated No. 4 seed Indiana, 2-0, on Sunday night.

GOALS (ASSISTS)
30’ – Payton Linnehan (Ally Schlegel)
74’ – Jill Flammia (unassisted)
82’ – Amelia White (Payton Linnehan)
88’ – Maya Carter (Maggie Cagle)
94’ – Haley Hopkins (Maggie Cagle)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State (15-5-3) struck in the 30th minute with a transition attack that saw Ally Schlegel send the ball forward to Payton Linnehan approaching the box in the middle of the field. Linnehan cut to her left and managed to get the ball around a diving Virginia keeper and picked the ball back up before putting her chance past another Virginia defender and in at the back post.

Virginia got the equalizer in the 74th minute with a strike from freshman Jill Flammia. Flammia stayed with the play after her initial header off a ball from Haley Hopkins was saved, but the deflected shot bounced in front of the goal mouth and Flammia put it back in for the score.

The Nittany Lions moved back in front in the 82nd minute when the initial shot after White came off her line was off the back post, but was cleaned up and put in by Amelia White.

Another freshman struck in the 88th minute as Maggie Cagle fought to keep a ball alive on the end line and reset the offense, sending the ball in to Maya Carter who finished to tie things up. Virginia would then pick up the win as Haley Hopkins scored in the 94th minute off a Cagle pass – knocking a ball in at the left post after it was tipped by the Penn State keeper. Virginia would then lock things down in the final 16 minutes of overtime to secure the win.

HIGHLIGHTS | If you couldn’t catch all the quarterfinal action in our match at No. 2 seed Penn State, we’ve got you covered!#GoHoos🔶⚔️🔷 | #ALLIN⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/AL9BuExsnx

— Virginia Women’s Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) November 21, 2022

NOTES

• UVA advances to the quarterfinal round for the ninth time in program history.
• The series between Virginia and Penn State is now tied 8-8-1 and UVA leads in NCAA Tournament games.
• Maggie Cagle’s two assists push her to a team-leading 12 on the season with seven on game-winning goals.
• Freshmen featured prominently with Cagle tallying the two assists and Jill Flammia and Maya Carter notching the second-half goals.
• Jill Flammia’s goal was her fourth of the season, while Maya Carter also scored her fourth of the year.
• Haley Hopkins hit her fifth game-winning goal of the season with the overtime goal.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON

“(The team) had a tremendous amount of grit. What a performance. This is a very good team we just beat, and I give them a lot of credit. Our players really dug deep. We played well in the first half. We gave up that goal, which was a little disappointing, but we really pushed it in the second half and the overtime. We created a lot of chances and really raised our level. Obviously, it’s been a challenging week for us and everyone back in the Charlottesville community. We’re still with them. We feel for them. This one’s for them.”