Women’s Soccer: Hoos blank Towson in season opener, 2-0

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Posted on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, 11:36 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

The Virginia women’s soccer team opened the season with a victory on Thursday, shutting out Towson by a score of 2-0 at Klöckner Stadium.

Virginia (1-0-0) scored once in each half, netting a goal from Laughlin Ryan in the first half before Maggie Cagle would score in the second to push the Cavaliers to victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cavaliers had been knocking on the door early, but finally broke through in the 34th minute following a turnover by Towson (0-1-0).

A heavy touch attempting to get the ball out of the defensive third allowed Virginia to poke the ball away and transition into the attack.

The ball got to the feet of Yuna McCormack approaching the penalty arc and McCormack tapped the ball left to Ryan who chipped the shot in toward the back post.

Virginia doubled the lead in the closing minutes of the game when Maggie Cagle was taken down in the box as she cut in from the left side. The referee awarded the penalty and Cagle buried her chance from the spot for the 2-0 Cavalier lead.

GOALS
UVA: 34’ – Laughlin Ryan (Yuna McCormack)
UVA: 85’ – Maggie Cagle (PENALTY KICK)

ADDITIONAL NOTES

  • Ryan’s first-half goal was the first of her career.
  • McCormack’s assist on the Ryan goal was her sixth career assist.
  • Cagle tallied her 13th career goal with the penalty kick in the second half.
  • Virginia moved to 23-2 in season openers under Steve Swanson.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON

“There were a lot of positives tonight. It’s good to start the season with a  win and to have Laughlin score the way she did brought some tears to the eyes of a lot of people on the bench. She’s had an amazing story, an amazing comeback and it couldn’t happen to a better person and teammate than her.

“We moved the ball well at times and certainly got enough chances. Our quality wasn’t as good as it needed to be in the attacking end. We were a little impatient at times and we could have gotten some better shots. That’s a good team. Towson works hard, they were organized and that was a good win for us. We have to build on this and have a big game coming up again on Sunday, but there were a lot of positives.”

UP NEXT

Virginia continues to play at home on Sunday with a matchup against Northwestern. Kick is set for 1 p.m. and the first 100 fans to bring a canned food donation at the gate will receive a $5 concession voucher for use at the game.