Women’s Soccer: Virginia falls to Wisconsin in PKs in NCAA second round

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s soccer team had its season come to an end on Friday, falling in penalty kicks to Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The teams played to a scoreless draw before the Badgers advanced 4-2 in penalty kicks.

The game was played at Great Park and hosted by USC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The teams battled for 110 minutes with the Badgers (10-5-6) having an early surge in the first half before Virginia would assert itself in the second.

Virginia (13-5-1) looked to have a chance to move in front when Maggie Cagle was taken down along the endline with less than three minutes left in regulation, but officials determined through VAR that no penalty was to be awarded. Deadlocked on the scoreboard and equal in shots, the game moved to the overtime periods.

The Cavaliers had the bulk of the chances through the pair of 10-minute periods, rattling off five shots in overtime to only one shot for Wisconsin. Neither team found the back of the net, however, as the game moved to a penalty kick shootout to determine which team would advance.

Virginia failed to convert on its first and fourth chances in the shootout, while Wisconsin successfully converted all four of its chances to advance to the Round of 16.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The game was the first overtime game for UVA since the 2022 NCAA Quarterfinals against No. 1 UCLA.
• Virginia has advanced to the second round or further in all 24 NCAA Tournament appearances under head coach Steve Swanson.
• With the loss, Virginia is now 20-4 in games played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament under Swanson.
• The tournament appearance was the 36th in program history for the Cavaliers which is the second most appearances by a team in NCAA Division I women’s soccer.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON

“Obviously, it is a tough result given the game. We played extremely well on the defensive side the entire game, but we just could not do enough on the attacking end or with our set plays to score. I thought we came on strong in the second half and in both overtime’s, but we just could not capitalize.

“Credit to Wisconsin for their defensive organization. They are a tough team to break down. Hard to lose in PKs as well, but again really proud of our team and the way they fought.”