Wahoo Wire

The Cavaliers kept their perfect record by defeating St. John’s Tuesday by a final score of 2-1.  This was the first time the two teams had played each other in the regular season, however, they met once previously in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, which resulted in a tie and Virginia advancing after penalty kicks.

The game started out looking like it might be another goal-less bout. Virginia spent the majority of the first half relentlessly battering St. John’s defense and rarely letting the ball cross into their own half of the field. There were some beautiful plays that resulted in many shots on goal, but St. Johns’ goalie, Kristin Russell, held strong. Virginia ended the first half with 15 shots on goal but the game remained scoreless.

The beginning of the second half started out with an unexpected break away into Virginia’s defense, catching the Cavaliers off-guard and resulting in a goal for St. Johns. After that, the Red Storm was back on the defensive as the bombardment of their goalie started recommenced, this time with more vigor as frustration began to show in Virginia’s performance.  Fouls were called on both teams as the game became testy.

Finally, after a particularly hectic play inside the goal box, Virginia’s Molly Menchel tied the game with a quick one-touch into the back of the net. The physicality of the game continued to escalate after the equalizer as players on both sides left with injuries from violent collisions.

Virginia forward, Gloria Douglas, expressed her feelings about the particular roughness of the game with a positive attitude still intact. “We’re always going to play physical teams, you just have to push through and let the refs deal with it”. Towards the end of the second half Douglas finished a beautiful cross from Caroline Miller, proving to be the difference for the ‘Hoos.

When asked about the frustration the team experienced playing the majority of the game on the offensive end without scoring, Chantel Jones, Virginia’s goal keeper, responded, “having to fight through what seems like 11 defenders is pretty tough and I’m just proud of how my team did”.

Head Coach Steve Swanson thought that the game was a lot more difficult than it needed to be but said, “there’s a lot we can learn from the game and when you can learn from a win that’s definitely a good thing”.