No. 2 Virginia upends No. 17 Notre Dame, 2-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Alexa Spaanstra delivered a goal and an assist to help keep the No. 2 Virginia women’s soccer team unbeaten in ACC play as the Cavaliers defeated No. 17 Notre Dame at Klöckner Stadium on Sunday. The Virginia victory knocked the Irish from the ranks of the unbeaten in ACC play as Notre Dame entered the match on a six-game win streak in the ACC.

GOALS

82’ – UVA: Alexa Spaanstra (Diana Ordoñez, Lia Godfrey)
83’ – UVA: Haley Hopkins (Alexa Spaanstra)
85’ – ND: Korbin Albert (unassisted)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Virginia (13-1-1, 6-0-1 ACC) scored a pair of goals in under a minute to open up the game and put the pressure on the Irish.

The Cavaliers got the first chance in transition in the 82nd minute when Virginia took off on a counter led by Diana Ordoñez. The junior forward played the ball ahead to Lia Godfrey who picked it up in stride and sent it forward to Spaanstra in the box. Spaanstra took a couple of dribbles and sent her shot in over sliding Notre Dame keeper to get the best of the one-on-one chance.

Virginia struck again 37 seconds later when Hopkins played a ball out to Spaanstra on the right wing. Spaanstra approached the box before sending a cross toward the penalty mark. A defender was caught behind Ordoñez as she marked her which allowed Hopkins to leap and launch a header in up and to the right of the keeper for the 2-0 lead.

Notre Dame (12-2-1, 6-1-0) would get on the board in the 85th minute when Korbin Albert lifted a shot from almost 35 yards out into the upper left corner out of the reach of a leaping Laurel Ivory.

NOTES

• Virginia improved to 7-1-1 all-time against the Irish with the win and are 3-1-1 in games at Klöckner Stadium.
• Haley Hopkins scored the game-winning goal for the second straight game with her header in the 83rd minute.
• Alexa Spaanstra recorded a point for the third straight game with a goal and an assist against the Irish.
• Diana Ordoñez recorded her 85th career point with her assist to break into the top 10 all-time in points at UVA.
• Spaanstra moved up into ninth on the career assist list at UVA with her assist and has 26 for her career.
• Laurel Ivory made her 92nd start to take over the top spot in career starts as a Cavalier – passing Becky Sauerbrunn who made 91 starts for Virginia (2003-2007).
• Ivory improved to 63-16-12 in goal with the win against the Irish on Sunday afternoon.
• The Notre Dame goal snapped a stretch of 577:32 minutes of shutout soccer for Ivory – the sixth-longest streak by a UVA keeper. Ivory holds four of the top 10 shutout streaks by a keeper in program history.

Box Score

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON

“It was a great win for us. We owe a lot to the fans. They were fantastic and what an atmosphere here. It was great to see us come out on the winning end. Notre Dame is a great team. We knew what we were going to get and we got it. It was a great college soccer game. It’s something we can build on and we have to. We have another tough week coming up. We can enjoy this now, but we have to turn our focus to Louisville and get ready for that one.”

UP NEXT

Virginia continues to play at home next week with two matches at Klöckner Stadium. It kicks off on Thursday night (Oct. 21) when the Cavaliers host Louisville in a 7 p.m. match.