Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 1 seeded Virginia women’s soccer team opened play in the NCAA Tournament with a 5-0 victory over High Point at Klöckner Stadium on Friday night.

With the win, the Cavaliers will host second-round action next Thursday (Nov. 20) against either No. 8 seed Penn State or Army (click here for interactive NCAA bracket).

GOALS
13’ – UVA: Carter (Cagle)
36’ – UVA: Ross (Bradley)
61’ – UVA: Halpern (Cecil, Cagle)
66’ – UVA: Cagle (penalty kick)
87’ – UVA: Bradley (Galvin, Waller)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cavaliers (13-3-4) started the scoring in the 13th minute with a strike from Ella Carter after a Virginia free kick. Carter played the ball in to Cagle off a short corner and Cagle played it back to Carter in the right corner of the box on an overlap. Carter then pulled up and fired her shot into the upper corner past the near post.

Virginia struck again in the 36th minute after Sophia Bradley took a shot that was blocked and deflected back to her on the left side of the box. She laid it back to Allie Ross at the top corner and Ross sent her shot across into the upper corner at the back post.

The third goal came in the 61st minute as Maggie Cagle, Pearl Cecil and Addison Halpern combined to work the ball into the attacking third. Pearl played a ball to Halpern 20 yards out and she lifted it over the top to Cagle on the right side of the box. Cagle attempted to attack, then turned and played the ball back to Cecil at the penalty arc where she had replaced Halpern who had drifted in near the top of the six. Cecil drove the ball low in to Halpern who flicked it to the right side netting for the 3-0 lead.

A penalty kick in the 66th minute from Maggie Cagle made it a 4-0 lead for the Hoos. The Cavaliers then hit the final goal in the 87th minute with a score off the foot of Bradley. Tatum Galvin triggered the offense with a ball from midfield to Kira Waller on a run toward the top of the box. Waller redirected out wide to Bradley on a run in behind the defense and the sophomore finished her one-on-one chance for the 5-0 margin.

BOX SCORE

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia improved to 3-0 all time against High Point with all three matches coming in the NCAA Tournament.
• Maggie Cagle turned in her second multiple-assist game of the season with two assists and a goal vs. HPU.
• Cagle has 13 game-winning assists for her career and her 30 total assists is tied for eighth all-time at UVA.
• Sophia Bradley notched a career-high three points with a goal and an assist against the Panthers.

FROM HEAD COACH STEVE SWANSON

“It was good to see five goals in, that’s for sure. We had a good start, possessed the ball very well and didn’t give them a lot of opportunities. We didn’t put a lot of shots on target in the first half, but we generated enough of an attack. The second half we pushed the envelope more and finished off the game. It was good to get the shutout and the win and get some momentum in the tournament.”