Virginia dominated defensively, limiting George Mason to one shot on the afternoon, but the 10th-ranked Cavaliers didn’t get their own offense going until late in a 2-0 win on Sunday at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia (9-3-1) didn’t score until the 75th minute of play.
“It is early,” head coach Steve Swanson said. “It almost felt like a year since we have been out here. It was a difficult challenge for us because they put a lot of numbers behind the ball. I would like to have seen us be sharper, better decisions and better execution. I think our preparations ahead of time with the weather and some of the issues we have had internally with COVID have put us a little bit behind the eight-ball, but we have a lot of confidence in the team. We will continue to get better.”
The Cavaliers got off nine shots in the first half. George Mason’s goalkeeper came up with two saves on those shots. UVA was finally able to get something going early in the second half as it was pressuring the Patriots just outside the box.
A foul on George Mason game Virginia a free kick directly in front of the goal. Lia Godfrey took the free kick and placed it perfectly past the goalie to make it 1-0. Shortly after that, UVA was ready to strike again as Talia Staude found Rebecca Jarrett, who drove past the defense and sent it in to the far corner.
UVA had 18 shots, with six on goal in the win and took five corner kicks. The Patriots had just one shot but made four saves in the game.
“It was a good start,” Swanson said. “We got a good win so that was important, and we had a lot of players play some minutes today. We just have to keep progressing. We know where we are right now, what we need to do, what we need to work on, and I think training is going to be the most important thing for us moving forward.”
Virginia returns to action on Saturday, March 6 at VCU for a 4 p.m. match in Richmond.
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Chris Graham
