Women’s soccer: #2 UVA blitzes Delaware, 6-1

The second-ranked Virginia women’s soccer team got goals from six different players on Sunday as the Cavaliers (3-0-0) picked up a 6-1 victory over Delaware (2-2-0) to close out the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic.

Four Cavaliers were named to the All-Tournament team, including MVP Emily Sonnett (Marietta, Ga.), Kaili Torres (Fleming Island, Fla.), Courtney Petersen (Canton, Mich.) and Brittany Ratcliffe (Williamstown, N.J.).

“We did some good things at times and we were inconsistent at times,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “Once we got the four goals, Delaware had nothing to lose and really raised their level of play and made it a more physical contest. We scored some good goals and we did some good things this weekend.”

Freshman Betsy Brandon (Littleton, Colo.) got the Cavaliers on the board in the 11th minute of play. Virginia fired a shot that was deflected in the box and lost amidst the scrum of players. Brandon came up with the ball and fired the shot past the keeper to put the home team on the board.

Junior Morgan Reuther (Chantilly, Va.) followed up with her own goal two minutes later to give Virginia a 2-0 lead on the Blue Hens. Junior Kirsten McNabb (Montville, N.J.) sent a long pass into the box where Reuther gathered it and beat the Delaware keeper one-on-one for the score that put the Cavaliers on top 2-0.

The lead grew to 3-0 in favor of the Cavaliers in the 26th minute when Ratcliffe scored her first goal of the season. Alexis Shaffer (Cary, N.C.) took a shot that was deflected by the keeper and skipped over to the feet of Ratcliffe just outside the far corner of the 6-yard box and the senior buried the shot for the three-goal lead.

Lorato Sargeant (Great Falls, Va.) got in on the action in the 33rd minute. Sargeant took the pass just inside the top of the box and dribbled through a defender and toward the goal. She fired a shot that was deflected, but the ball came right back to her feet. The freshman shot again and found the net to give Virginia the 4-0 lead.

Virginia continued the scoring in the second period, picking up a goal from Petersen in the 59th minute. Petersen took a cross from Ratcliffe about 14 yards out in the top left of the box and sent it in past the keeper for a 5-0 lead.

Sophomore Veronica Latsko (Venetia, Pa.) moved the lead out to six goals in the 66th minute when she took a pass in the center of the box from Peterson. The shot from 16 yards out sailed over the head of the Blue Hens’ keeper to give the sophomore her second goal of the season.

Delaware answered two minutes later on a counter, when Riley Curtin sent one in from the top of the box on the near side past the far post to get the Blue Hens on the board to cap the scoring in the match.

Virginia will return to action next weekend, hitting the road for the first time on the season to face a pair of nationally-ranked foes. The Cavaliers will face No. 12 UCLA on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET. Virginia will then face No. 10 Pepperdine at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.