Virginia drops first exhibition match against Illinois, 2-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 4 Virginia women’s soccer team played its first exhibition action of the fall on Wednesday when the Cavaliers were edged 2-1 by Illinois in a neutral-site contest in Maple City, Mich.

The Cavaliers and Illini played two segments of 45 minutes each and an additional 30-minute segment for a total of 120 minutes of action on the afternoon. Virginia’s score came from freshman Maya Carter off an assist from junior Sarah Brunner.

“This was a really good opportunity for us to see where we are at this early stage of the season,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “It was a really good game where we could assess ourselves in all phases of the game. I thought we did some very good things in moments, but for us we need to be more consistent in the way we value the ball and also the way we defend. Overall, we could not have asked for a better first game and we are looking forward to continuing to improve as a team before our first game next week.

Virginia will face No. 9 Michigan in an exhibition match on Saturday at noon before returning home to kick off the regular season against George Mason at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, at Klöckner Stadium.