The second-ranked UVA women’s soccer team captured the 2014 Virginia Nike Soccer Classic title with a 3-1 victory over Hofstra Sunday at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers (7-0-0) remain undefeated on the season, while the Pride (4-3-0) had a two-game win streak snapped.
Senior midfielder Danielle Colaprico (Freehold, N.J.) had a goal and an assist in the victory as she earned tournament MVP honors. Sophomore Meghan Cox (Springfield, Va.) and junior Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.) also scored for the Cavaliers, who won their home tournament for the 17th time in 27 years.
“We are happy to get a win today,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “That is a good soccer team that Hofstra has over there. They beat a good ACC team in Duke on Friday night and we knew we were going to have our hands full today. Anyone who was here knows this wasn’t a 3-1 game. Some of that is on us, but a lot of that is how they played. We still need to make better decisions in the offensive end. We had some chances to break this game open earlier and those are things we need to continue to work on.”
The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, marking their earliest goal in a game this season. Off a short corner, Megan Reid (Orinda, Calif.) sent a ball towards the far post that found Cox alone inside the six-yard box. Cox collected the ball and fired home her second goal of the season. Virginia held that 1-0 lead at halftime, outshooting the Pride 7-1 in the first period.
Hofstra drew even in the 53rd minute as Leah Galton dribbled to the top of the box and fired a shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and went in for her fifth goal of the season. Just four minutes later the Cavaliers would retake the lead. Kaili Torres (Fleming Island, Fla.) was taken down in the box and Doniak converted the penalty kick for her fourth goal of the season. Virginia added a final tally in the 87th minute as Torres got around a defender on the end line and found Colaprico unmarked inside the six-yard box to tap in her third goal of the year.
Overall, Virginia outshot Hofstra 22-7 and had a 6-3 corner kick advantage. Sophomore Morgan Stearns (San Antonio, Texas) made a season-high three saves in goal for Virginia, while Friederike Mehring made six saves for the Pride.
Colaprico was one of five Cavaliers named to the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team. She was joined by Doniak, Torres, junior defender Emily Sonnett (Marietta, Ga.) and senior midfielder Campbell Millar (McLean, Va.)
Virginia will conclude its non-conference schedule Wednesday as it hosts Old Dominion. Game time at Klöckner Stadium is 7 p.m.
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Chris Graham
