It took almost 105 minutes to get a result and for the first time this season the Cavaliers came out on the short side of a decision as No. 4 UVA (7-1-0, 0-1-0 ACC) fell at Clemson (7-3-0, 2-0-0 ACC) on Thursday night by a score of 1-0.
Mariana Speckmaier notched the golden goal for the Tigers, finishing with a header off a corner kick from Sam Staab in the 105th minute to lift Clemson to victory. It is the first time since the 2003 season that Clemson has picked up a win over the Cavaliers who had gone 12-0-2 against the Tigers in the previous 14 meetings.
Virginia out-shot Clemson 17-to-10 for the match, but couldn’t find the net for the first time this season.
The Cavaliers will continue ACC play on the road Sunday, facing No. 12 Duke at 2 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium.
The Cavaliers out-shot the Tigers in the first half by a 7-to-1 margin, with two shots slipping just wide, a third shot deflected by a defender in the box and a fourth snagged by the Clemson keeper at the far left post to keep Virginia off the board.
Clemson got its only shot in the half in the 42nd minute by virtue of a penalty kick. The Clemson player went down in a scrum as several players jumped for a service into the box. The Tigers’ Miranda Weslake lined up her shot, but fired it wide to the left of the goal as the teams remained scoreless at the half.
The trend continued in the second half with the Cavaliers maintaining possession early and pressuring the Tiger back line and keeper. Clemson would withstand the attack and counter with chances of its own, but Laurel Ivory (Surfside, Fla.) proved to be up to the task each time.
At the end of regulation, the Cavaliers held a 16-to-8 edge in shots.
Each team managed a shot in the first overtime period, but missed on both opportunities to send the match to a second overtime period. It was in that second overtime period that the Tigers found the net to pick up the victory off the Speckmaier golden goal.
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Chris Graham
