Women’s soccer: No. 2 Virginia downs Boston College, 4-2

Senior Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.) tied the school record for points in a career (138) with a goal and an assist on Sunday to help No. 2 Virginia (11-1-1, 5-1-0 ACC) post a 4-2 victory on the road at Boston College (9-6-1, 3-3-1 ACC).

Doniak scored the first goal of the game and assisted on the second goal as the Cavaliers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Eagles and never trailed in the contest. Doniak scored in the first minute of play and connected with Alexis Shaffer (Cary, N.C.) in the seventh minute for the two-goal lead.

The Cavaliers’ quick goal set the tone early for the match as Doniak took a ball that was misplayed by the Boston College defense off a long service. The ball bounced off the Eagles’ defender and Doniak collected it and drilled the shot past the keeper to put Virginia on the board.

In the seventh minute of play, the Cavaliers struck again when Doniak sent the ball to Shaffer 24 yards out in the middle of the field. Shaffer fired the shot from distance and found the net to put Virginia on top 2-0.

Hayley Dowd scored for Boston College in the 21st minute when she took advantage of a misplayed ball by the Cavaliers and buried it in the goal to cut the lead to 2-1. That score would hold at halftime.

Virginia held an 11-to-3 advantage in shots after the first half of play.

The Cavaliers didn’t let up in the second half, out-shooting the Eagles 12-to-3 in the half and finding the net two more times with the offensive pressure.

Brittany Ratcliffe (Williamstown, N.J.) hit what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Cavaliers in the 80th minute of play when she took a ball that rebounded off the post from a Betsy Brandon (Littleton, Colo.) shot and put it in the net.

Virginia again scored off another shot off the post, this time when Veronica Latsko (Venetia, Pa.) took the carom from the Morgan Reuther (Chantilly, Va.) shot and scored. The Cavaliers led 4-1 after that shot in the 87th minute of play.

Boston College had an answer mere seconds later, finding the net on a header from McKenzie Meehan following the kick after the goal to cut the score to 4-2. It would prove to be the final margin of victory for Virginia as the Cavaliers picked up the win.

Virginia will return to action this week, hosting the final two home matches of the regular season with a contest against Louisville at 5:30 p.m. on Thurssday afternoon and a showdown with No. 1 Florida State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.