UVA women dominate in NCAA soccer opener

By Kip Coons

CARY, N.C. – For a team that hadn’t played a soccer match in nearly three weeks, Virginia showed plenty of form in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.

The Cavaliers, ranked 12th in the final regular-season coaches poll, dominated play throughout and dispatched Ohio Valley champion Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 3-1 on Wednesday night at WakeMed Soccer Park.

UVa (11-4-2), which got two goals from junior forward Alexa Spaanstra and one from sophomore defender Talia Staude, will play 12th-seeded Brigham Young at 3 p.m. Saturday back here at WakeMed’s Field No. 2.

BYU (11-3-1) received a first-round bye as one of the top-16 seeded teams.

“Any time you can get a win in the NCAA Tournament, it’s a good thing,” UVa coach Steve Swanson said. “Obviously, it’s just about advancing now. It was good to get this game under our belt. They’re a good team and are very competitive. We expected a difficult match, and we got it.”

Virginia hadn’t played since April 10, when it tied 1-1 against West Virginia, which could face the Cavaliers for a third time this spring in the third round. The fourth-seeded Mountaineers will play Rice, a 3-1 winner over Furman on Wednesday, at noon Saturday on WakeMed #2 in the preliminary to UVa’s match.

Despite their dominance, the Cavaliers had nothing to show for it for the first 40 minutes of the opening half. In fact, UVa found itself trailing 1-0 when SIUE (8-3-2) capitalized on its only shot of the half against the run of play.

After a throw-in from the left touch line, Megan Keever flicked a header to the right side of the penalty area where a completely unmarked Mario Haro gathered it.

Haro found the range inside the far post from 12 yards out at the 10:25 mark, shocking the favored Cavaliers and delighting the boisterous SIUE fans who had made the trip east.

The lead would stand up for 30 minutes, even though the Cavaliers peppered the SIUE goal with shots. UVa outshot the Cougars 14-1 in the half, but scrappy goalkeeper Taylor Spiller made five saves and frequently ventured out from the goalmouth to cut off the Cavaliers’ passes.

It took a superlative individual effort from Spaanstra to level the match in the 41st minute. She found some space down the right flank, absolutely undressed one defender with a brilliant one-on-one move inside, then eluded two more defenders in the penalty area before unleashing a shot into the right corner of the net that Spiller had no chance to stop.

Spaanstra struck again in the second half, when she got on the end of a through ball from Samar Guidry in the 56th minute. Spaanstra ran down the ball deep into the penalty area and was taken down from behind by SIUE defender Courtney Vollmer.

Spaanstra, a first-team All-ACC selection, buried the penalty kick in the right corner for a 2-1 lead and her eighth goal of the season. It was her second two-goal game this season and the fourth of her career.

“Alexa’s been great all year,” Swanson said. “We needed her to step up, and she caused problems all night. Her consistent running and her movement off the ball is huge for us.

“Getting the two goals, creating the penalty kick and finishing it, and getting the equalizer was huge. But that’s the way she’s been since she got here. She’s been a big-time impact player for us, and she did it again tonight.”

Staude gave the Cavaliers an insurance goal in the 69th minute, capping a flurry of UVa corner kicks. Senior midfielder Taryn Torres sent an in-swinging kick from the right corner into the goalmouth, where Staude headed it home for her first career goal.

Torres was credited with the assist, her first of the season after missing the bulk of fall play with an injury.

“I was happy with how we came back,” Swanson said. “We got a better second half and did a good job of closing out the game. A lot of positives, especially in the second half.”

UVa enjoyed a big statistical edge, outshooting Southern Illinois 25-2 with a 16-0 advantage in corner kicks. Spiller finished with five saves, but her defenders got credit for two more when they headed balls off the goal line with Spiller out of the play.

The only other shot the Cougars managed all night came 31 seconds into the second half, and UVa goalkeeper Laurel Ivory allowed it to sail well wide of the net.