No. 1 Virginia 2, Boston College 1
NEWTON, Mass. -- Virginia, playing its first game as the nation's top-ranked team in 23 years, rallied for a 2-1 victory at Boston College in its road opener Thursday. Sophomore Makenzy Doniak and senior Molly Menchel scored four minutes apart in the second half to keep the Cavaliers unbeaten on the season. The Eagles fell to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
The victory was Virginia's first win in Boston, having been shutout in each of its first four trips to the Newton Campus Field. The win was also the 300th career victory for Cavalier head coach Steve Swanson.
The game was scoreless at the half, marking the first time the Cavaliers have not scored in a half this season. Virginia had several chances throughout the half before the Eagles closed the first period strong, forcing several key saves from UVa first-year goalkeeper Morgan Stearns.
The Eagles took the lead early in the second half, striking in the 47th minute. Patrice Vittori slipped a through ball that sent Stephanie McCaffrey on a breakaway. She scored on the opportunity for her fourth goal of the season. The goal snapped Virginia's shutout streak at 490:34, the eighth longest streak in school history.
The Cavaliers trailed for just the second time this season, but found the equalizer 11 minutes after the Boston College goal. Senior midfielder Annie Steinlage slipped a ball to Doniak, who fired a low shot just inside the far post to tie the game. Four minutes later, a similar play set up Doniak again. Her shot went through the hands of the goalkeeper and as it bounced towards the far post, Menchel headed in the go-ahead goal. It was her fourth goal of the season, and third game-winner.
Overall Virginia and Boston College each had 13 shots, while the Eagles had 6-5 corner kick advantage. Stearns made a career-high six saves in goal for Virginia, while Jessica Mickelson had three saves for Boston College. Swanson became the 16th Division I coach to reach the 300-win mark and the 31st coach in all divisions of NCAA women's soccer. He now has a career record of 300-134-45 over his 24-year career at Dartmouth, Stanford and Virginia.
No. 2 Stanford 5, Saint Mary's 0
STANFORD, Calif. -– Taylor Uhl scored two goals for the third consecutive match, helping No. 2 Stanford to a 5-0 nonconference victory against Saint Mary’s on Thursday at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
Stanford (6-0-1) extended its home unbeaten streak to 72 while earning its fourth shutout of the season. Chioma Ubogagu, starting in midfield for the first time, and Lo’eau LaBonta each scored their first goals of the season and an own goal by the Gaels (3-6-0) completed the scoring.
Uhl, a junior transfer from Minnesota, leads the Cardinal with eight goals, including seven in the past four matches.
Ubogagu opened the scoring in the 23rd minute after a weaving run at the top of the box. Her left-footed shot was partially deflected by goalkeeper Kaeli Schmidt, but was struck so hard it found its way into the net.
Uhl provided the next two. In the 30th minute, Ryan Walker-Hartshorn supplied a pass from the right. Uhl settled the ball, cut to her right, and then struck a hard shot inside the upper right corner -- a true golazo.
She made it 3-0 by first-timing a cross from Courtney Verloo by getting a step ahead of a defender with better position.
LaBonta scored in the 69th minute when Verloo sent a short corner to Natalie Griffen, who chipped a ball into the box and LaBonta met it with a header from 10 yards.
No. 6 Wake Forest 3, No. 18 Duke 1
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Katie Stengel scored the 50th goal of her career as No. 6 Wake Forest remained unbeaten in 2013 with a 3-1 victory against No. 18 Duke on Thursday evening at Spry Stadium.
Stengel's milestone goal capped off the Demon Deacons' most complete performance of the season. Wake Forest's (7-0-1, 2-0-1 ACC) offense generated a number of scoring chances with Riley Ridgik and Caroline Wootten joining Stengel on the scoresheet. Goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe made four saves to help the Deacs hold on to defeat the Blue Devils (4-4-1, 1-2-0 ACC).
Stengel's 50th goal came in the 83rd minute. A through ball by Ally Berry sent her free down the left and she cut in for a little chip over diving Duke goalkeeper Ali Kershner who could do nothing but watch as the ball slowly dribbled across the line.
Stengel is the one of only three active players in the country that have netted 50 goals in her career and is the only one have done it in the ACC. With still more than half of the season to play, she has already scored 14 more goals than any other player to wear the Wake Forest uniform.
It was fitting performance for Stengel to earn her 50th goal in, as she characteristically contributed in ways other than just putting the ball into the back of the net herself. The three-time All-American created Wootten's game-winner out of almost nothing as she rescued a ball that seemed destined to go over the end line, drew the defenders and keeper over to her and then played a gorgeous pass back to Deacon freshman, who smashed a shot into the vacated net.
Ridgik's opening goal in the 26th minute came as a result of a mishandled save by Duke goalkeeper Ali Kershner. Kershner had come well off her line to try to gather a long cross, but Wootten got her head on it first, forcing Kershner to save from point-blank range. The rebound rolled to Ridgik who blasted a shot from 20 yards into the vacated net.
The Blue Devils tied the game just after the half off of a set piece from the end line. The Deacons were able to clear the initial service, but the ball came to Toni Payne. Payne dished to Laura Weinberg at the top of the box, and Weinberg unleashed a rocket that found its way through the mess of players in the area and into the back of the net.
The Deacons retook the lead only 12 minutes later thanks to Wootten's goal.
No. 7 Notre Dame 1, Syracuse 0
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Sammy Scofield went high to head in a deflected free kick with three seconds to play, giving No. 7 Notre Dame a dramatic 1-0 win against Syracuse in Atlantic Coast Conference play Thursday night before a crowd of 1,607 fans at Alumni Stadium. It was the fourth consecutive win for the Fighting Irish, with three of those victories coming via shutout.
Freshman midfielder Morgan Andrews started the winning sequence with a free kick 30 yards out on the left side, driving her service towards the underside of the crossbar. Syracuse goalkeeper Brittany Anghel retreated and was able to punch the ball up into the air near the penalty spot, where junior defender Brittany Von Rueden headed the ball back toward the six-yard box. Scofield was perfectly positioned and quickly went up to snap her header into the net past another Syracuse defender, sending the Fighting Irish faithful into delirium.
Freshman goalkeeper Kaela Little made two saves to record her second consecutive shutout and third in the past four matches. Anghel had four saves for Syracuse (4-5-0, 0-3-0 ACC), while also benefitting from two other saves by her defensive backline.
Notre Dame (7-1-0, 3-0-0) finished with a sizeable edge in all of the statistical categories on Thursday, including total shots (19-4), shots on goal (7-2) and corner kicks (8-2).
Playing its third match in seven days, Notre Dame was coming off an emotionally charged 1-0 win at then-No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday afternoon. The Fighting Irish also had to deal with a completely different style of play from Syracuse, which was content to play deep in the defensive third, often putting eight or nine players behind the ball and then waiting for the occasional counterattack.
Syracuse had a pair of shots in the first half, but only one on goal and that came 29 minutes into the period, when Cecilia Borgstrom latched on to a pass on the right side of the area, and drove a 15-yard shot toward the far left post, but Little made the save to snuff out the threat.
The second half would prove to be nearly one-way traffic to the Notre Dame offensive third, starting in the 51st minute, when sophomore forward Anna Maria Gilbertson rifled a 25-yard shot from the right channel that clipped the top of the crossbar.
Inside the final minute, Kaela Little started the transition attack that would lead to the eventual deciding score. Her outlet throw connected perfectly with Elizabeth Tucker on the left side and Tucker raced across midfield before playing a ball up to sophomore midfielder Cari Roccaro in the left channel. Roccaro was almost immediately run down from behind by a Syracuse defender, resulting in a free kick with 30 seconds to play.
No. 10 Georgetown 1, UCF 1
WASHINGTON -- Tenth-ranked Georgetown scored midway through the first half, Central Florida countered later in the first half and the two teams spent the second half and two overtime periods battling back and forth before settling for a 1-1 double-overtime draw in a non-league game at Shaw Fieldon Thursday.
The tie leaves Georgetown, ranked No. 10 by the National Soccer Coaches Association with a 7-0-1 record, while the Knights fall to 6-2-1 overall. The tie extends Georgetown's unbeaten streak at home to 17 games, dating back to the 2011 season.
It was a back-and-forth contest between the teams, with UCF holding an 11-10 advantage in shots and the Hoyas holding an 8-4 edge in corner kicks.
The Hoyas had the advantage in the early moments, with three corner kicks in the first four minutes of action. A kick from of junior midfielder Daphne Corboz was headed by senior midfielder Kailey Blain in the second minute but was saved by UCF goalkeeper Lianne Maldonado.
Corboz sent a cross from the near sideline to Blain on the far side of the box and Blain's blast from 12 yards out beat Maldonado at 24:03, giving GU the 1-0 lead.
The Knights tied the game in the 42nd minute when a foul was called in the box on Georgetown senior Colleen Dinn. Coleman took the penalty kick and beat Newins at 41:09, tying the game.
Georgetown had the run of play through the early portion of the second half. A shot from Dinn was saved by Maldonado and a blast from Corboz in the 65th minute on the near side right wing was blocked.
The teams went back and forth through the remaining 25 minutes of regulation before heading to overtime. In the first overtime period, shots from UCF's Sophie Howard went high and one from Jennifer Martin was saved by Newins.
Georgetown had the best chance to end the game in the second overtime period when a shot from senior Kaitlin Brenn was saved and deflected up and a header from sophomore Marina Paul right in front of the goal was saved by Maldonado.
