Haley Hopkins delivered her first hat trick on Sunday, scoring three times in the first 14 minutes, to help No. 8 Virginia to a 5-0 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia (4-0-0) got off to the hot start with a hat trick from Haley Hopkins in the first 14 minutes of the game. It started with a penalty kick in the sixth minute before Alexa Spaanstra and Hopkins would connect twice over the next eight minutes.
The first of two connections came in the ninth minute with a ball played through the midfield by Spaanstra ahead to Hopkins making a run on goal. Hopkins picked it up in stride and struck across the face of the goal and in past the back post. The second connection came in the 14th minute when Spaanstra took a shot that was deflected to Hopkins and who put the deflection in the net for the hat trick.
The fourth goal of the half came from Laney Rouse as she collected a ball that FDU knocked to her on the right wing in a clearance attempt. Rouse took the shot from just outside the box and put it in the upper 90 on the far side.
Virginia’s fifth goal came in the 56th minute when Lia Godfrey scored on a free kick from 25 yards out.
“We certainly started the game well and it was nice to see some goals go in, but as the game wore on we were not able to keep a consistently high tempo in terms of our ball movement which led to transition moments for them,” UVA coach Steve Swanson said. “I do think there are some good takeaways from this game on both sides of the ball. We are obviously still growing as a team, so taking the lessons away from games like these are very important for our growth.”
Virginia will continue to play at home on Thursday when the Cavaliers host JMU as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. Kick is set for 5 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.
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Chris Graham
