A solid defensive effort combined with an early goal lifted the Cavaliers to victory as No. 8 UVA (10-2-0, 3-2-0 ACC) went on the road and defeated Louisville (9-3-0, 3-2-0 ACC) by a score of 1-0 Thursday (Oct. 4) night at Lynn Stadium.
For the second straight match Meghan McCool (Glenside, Pa.) hit the game-winning goal for Virginia, as the junior found the net in the seventh minute of play.
It wasn’t the typical match for the Cavaliers who took only five shots on the night, two of them on goal. But the Virginia defense was up to the challenge in the nip-and-tuck contest with the back line turning away several Louisville runs and goalkeeper Laurel Ivory (Surfside, Fla.) making a big save to preserve the shutout.
Ivory improved to 9-2-0 on the season with her fourth shutout of the year. It was only the first time for a team to shut out Louisville this season, as the Cardinals were the second most prolific offense in the ACC behind Virginia with 2.45 goals per game heading into the match.
McCool notched the only goal of the match with her strike in the seventh minute of play off a pair of passes from Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) and Taryn Torres (Frisco, Texas). Torres played the ball ahead to Spaanstra running down the right side of the box where the freshman played it back into the center to McCool, who had slipped in past the defense for the shot.
The Cavaliers led 1-0 at the half, scoring on the only shot of the period by the visiting team. Louisville had only two shots in the first half, one on goal that was saved with a diving stop by Ivory in the waning minutes of the period.
Louisville got a pair of solid chances near the 60th minute, striking from the top of the box first on a shot punched over the crossbar by Ivory. The ensuing corner resulted in a ball that bent in toward goal, but it clipped the crossbar and sailed harmlessly over the goal.
The Cavaliers were able to hold off the Cardinals down the stretch, picking up the 1-0 victory.
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Chris Graham
