Women’s Soccer: #5 Virginia shuts out James Madison, 2-0

A pair of second-half goals pushed #5 Virginia to a 2-0 win over James Madison Thursday at Klöckner Stadium.

The shutout was the fourth of the season for the Cavaliers (5-0-0).

After controlling the first half, Virginia found the back of the net in the early moments of the second half off a penalty kick in the 47th minute. A handball on a cross set up the chance from the penalty spot and Haley Hopkins buried the chance to put the Cavaliers on the board.

Virginia would double the lead late with a strike from Lia Godfrey in the 84th minute. Maya Carter took a shot off the attack that was deflected to Godfrey who quickly pulled up and placed her shot up and to the right of the keeper for the score.

“It was a good result,” UVA coach Steve Swanson said. “JMU is much improved, and we feel good about the result, but the performance is a different story. There are a lot of things we can do better and have to do better. We’re going to concentrate on those things and look to improve because we have a good Memphis team coming in on Sunday. We have to be better for that one. There are lessons to be learned from this game and hopefully we learn those lessons.”

Virginia continues to play at home on Sunday when the Cavaliers host No. 23 Memphis in a 6 p.m. contest at Klöckner Stadium.