Women’s soccer: No. 12 UVA shuts out Monmouth, 2-0, to advance in NCAA Tournament

A pair of goals from freshman Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) lifted the Cavaliers to victory on Friday night as No. 12 UVA (16-4-0) defeated Monmouth (16-4-1) in the opening-round of NCAA Tournament play at Klöckner Stadium.

Virginia will now face Texas Tech (13-5-2) in a second-round matchup next Friday (Nov. 16). The site will be determined following No. 2 seed Baylor’s match with Abilene Christian on Saturday (Nov. 10).

It was the second multiple-goal game of the season for Spaanstra who scored a goal in each half of the Virginia victory. She also notched two goals earlier this year in a win over Syracuse. It is her second game-winning goal of the year as she also hit the game winner against the Orange.

Freshman goalkeeper Michaela Moran (Greeley, Colo.) made her second start of the season and improved to 2-0-0 in goal this season and posted her first solo shutout.

“Both on video and in the game tonight I was really impressed with Monmouth,” said Virginia head coach Steve Swanson. “They were well organized and extremely dangerous on the counter. I thought we did a good job of limiting their chances and Alexa scored a couple of very nice goals. Once again, our depth proved to be a difference and we had a number of strong contributions off the bench. We are very excited about moving on in the tournament and look forward to another week of preparations before our next game.”

Spaanstra’s eighth goal of the season got the Cavaliers on the board in the 27th minute when she struck true from inside the six-yard box. Meghan McCool (Glenside, Pa.) took the initial shot that was deflected in past the defense to Spaanstra making her run. The freshman slipped it in past the near left post to give Virginia the 1-0 lead.

The second goal came early in the second half with Spaanstra finding the net again in the 51st minute. The freshman took a pass from Rebecca Jarrett (Washington Township, N.J.) a few yards out at the top of the box. She collected the ball, turned and centered before striking from 22 yards out for the 2-0 lead.

The Cavaliers continued to press the attack, finishing the match with a 23-to-1 advantage in shots and held the Hawks without a shot until the 87th minute of play. It’s the fifth time this season that Virginia has held an opponent to one shot or fewer for a match.