UVA women’s soccer wins exhibition with Illinois, 5-2

The second-ranked Virginia women’s soccer team hit the pitch in friendly competition Fridayafternoon, picking up a 5-2 win over Illinois to close out the first week of preseason training camp. The scrimmage consisted of three 30-minute periods.

The Cavaliers spread the ball around, getting goals from four different players – including two from senior Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.). Three different players contributed assists.

“It was a good scrimmage in every sense of the word,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson.  “We got a lot out of it, which is what you want early. We saw a lot of things we want to improve on and can highlight in our training this next week. We also saw things we liked and some relationships that worked well. We have some things we can improve on, but overall we are excited about the day and we didn’t have any injuries which is a good thing.”

Virginia wasted no time getting on the board, scoring four times in the first 30-minute period.

The Cavaliers got the first goal in the sixth minute off a corner kick as junior Alexis Shaffer (Cary, N.C.) sent the ball into the box for header from junior Meghan Cox (Springfield, Va.).

The second Virginia goal came in the 16^th minute with freshman Hana Kerner (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) sending the ball to the foot of junior Morgan Reuther (Chantilly, Va.), who found the back of the net.

 

Doniak provided the next two goals, scoring in the 19^th minute and the 23^rd minute of the period. The first of her two goals came again off a pass from Kerner. Doniak’s second goal came off a deflected shot. Shaffer sent the ball in to Doniak who took the shot, only to have it saved by the Illini keeper. Doniak took the deflected shot and sent it back into the net to give the Cavaliers the 4-0 lead.

Neither team scored in the second period of play.

Illinois found the net early in the third period, but the Cavaliers responded with the fifth goal of the afternoon when freshman Lorato Sargeant  (Great Falls, Va.) connected with freshman Betsy Brandon (Littleton, Colo.) in the 15^th minute.

Illinois capped the scoring on a penalty kick with under a minute to play for the 5-2 final.

Virginia will return to action in the final exhibition match of the year on Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m. when the Cavaliers host Maryland at Klöckner Stadium. Admission to the exhibition contest is free.
Fans can also get a chance to meet the team when the Cavaliers participate in the annual Meet The Teams day on Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. Players will sign autographs and doors open for the event at 12:30 p.m.