The No. 6 Virginia women’s soccer team had its biggest offensive explosion in six years as it downed Liberty 9-1 Friday night in front of 1,183 fans at Klöckner Stadium. Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.) led the Cavalier attack, posting Virginia’s first hat trick in three seasons.
“This was a good result for us,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “Any time we play an in-state opponent, we know we are going to get their best shot. We have known that we have a lot of players who can score, and that was certainly evident on the box score tonight. That kind of scoring distributionis something we have always stressed. We have shown that already this season and hopefully that continues.”
Miller led a group of seven different goal scorers on thenight. In addition, nine different Cavaliers recorded an assist, led by Shasta Fisher’s (Saugus, Calif.) first two career assists.
The Cavaliers (3-0-0) took the lead in the 17th minute as Morgan Brian (St. Simons Island, Ga.) buried a shot from the top of the 18-yard box. Olivia Brannon (Troy, Mich.) scored her first career goal in the 23rd minute as she headed home a Molly Menchel (Alexandria, Va.) corner kick. Miller scoredher first goal of the evening in the 38th minute as she dribbled through numerous defenders before slotting home a shot from 10 yards out. Emily Perrin (Charlottesville, Va.) scored her first career goal when she headed in a Fisher cross in the 41st minute. Erica Hollenberg (Fairfax Station, Va.) closed out the first half scoring in the 43rd minute when she knocked in a cross from Danielle Colaprico (Freehold, N.J.) to give Virginia a 5-0 lead at the break.
Virginia extended the lead to 6-0 in the 48th minute as Millerblasted in her second goal of the night. She completed her hat trick in the 53rd minute, off a cross from Lauren Alwine (Elizabethtown, Pa.). Amber Fry (Northfield, Ill.) recorded her first goal of the season in the 71st minute as she scored off a give-and-go with Gloria Douglas (Fayetteville, N.C.). Douglas scored Virginia’s final goal of the night in the 79th minute as she found the back of the net from the top of the 18-yard box. Liberty (0-1-0) scored its goal in the 88th minute as Aimee Luurtsema scored on a breakaway after a through ball from Megan Warner.
Miller recorded the 11th hat trick in school history, the first since Sinead Farrelly accomplished the feat at Clemson in 2008. She also tied school records with three goals and seven points in a game.
The Cavaliers’ nine goals were their most since a 9-0 win over Richmond in 2005.
Overall Virginia outshot Liberty 24-6, and had a 10-0 cornerkick edge. Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) made two saves for the Cavaliers, while Karen Blocker made four saves for the Flames.
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