Women’s Soccer: #1 UVA, #10 Duke battle to scoreless draw

For the second time in three conference matches this season things ended in a draw as No. 1 Virginia (9-0-2, 1-0-2 ACC) battled No. 10 Duke (6-1-3, 1-0-2 ACC) to a 0-0 result on Sunday at Klöckner Stadium.

It is the first time this season that the Cavaliers, who are among the national leaders in offensive production, have been held without a goal.

The Cavaliers had the run of play throughout much of regulation and held a 14-to-3 advantage in shots through the first 90 minutes of play. The play of the keepers for both teams was high throughout the match with Duke’s Brooke Heinsohn and Virginia’s Laurel Ivory (Surfside, Fla.) making five and four saves, respectively.

“If you look at this game just in terms of possession and where we had the ball for most of the game, it’s disappointing to come away with a draw,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “But, if you look at it from the perspective of which team had the better chances, you could honestly say we were fortunate to draw. If Laurel does not make the saves and the challenges she made, we don’t come close to a draw. We can, and will, learn a lot from this game – which is what we need to do. Hats off to our fans today. They continue to provide us such a great atmosphere in which to play.”

The Cavaliers got several chances in the first period, finding senior Meghan McCool (Glenside, Pa.) in the box on three occasions in the first 15 minutes of play. Despite the opportunities, the Cavaliers couldn’t find the back of the net and the game was scoreless at the break with Virginia holding an 11-to-0 edge in shots. All three of McCool’s shots slipped wide or high, while Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) had two shots on goal, both saved by the Duke keeper.

Virginia had a nice chance waved off in the 50th minute when the Cavaliers were called offside after finding the back of the net. A free kick was cleared by the Blue Devils but regained at the top of the box by Virginia. Sydney Zandi (West Chester, Pa.) tapped the ball out wide to Courtney Petersen (Canton, Va.) who sent the ball in with the cross. The service found Anna Sumpter racing toward the center of the six-yard box where she headed it in, but the flag went up negating the goal.

The Cavaliers got another chance in the 64th minute when Taryn Torres sent in a strike off a free kick just outside the top of the box. Duke keeper Brooke Heinsohn punched the ball clear to keep the home team off the board. Duke responded a minute later with a counter, but Mackenzie Pluck pushed her shot just wide to the right of the goal.

Duke got a chance to end things in the 97th minute with a counter and a one-on-one opportunity as Tess Boade got behind the Cavalier defense. Ivory came off her line and made the sliding save, blocking the Boade shot near the penalty mark to make the save. The Duke chance was sandwiched around a Diana Ordonez (Prosper, Texas) that was saved and a McCool shot that missed wide to the right.

The Blue Devils got two more shots in the 108th minute, both saved by Ivory as the teams closed things out with the draw.

Virginia will return to action next Friday, heading out on the road to face Miami in an 8 p.m. match on ACCNX.