The North Carolina State women's soccer team kept things interesting with some good pressure on Virginia's defense and shot off the crossbar, but the Cavaliers were too much for the Wolfpack in both squads' first ACC match of the 2012 season.
Virginia led 1-0 at the half off of Sophomore Olivia Brannon's in the 9th minute. Senior Erica Hollenberg sent a corner kick from the right corner into the front of the box. Sophomore Danielle Colaprico knocked the ball back across in front of the goalie to her teammate and Brannon put it in the back of the net.
Makenzy Doniak had one of the Cavaliers better chances to double the lead when she took a through ball that the goalie got her hand on and tapped it away from her before putting it in the back of the net uncontested. The referee ruled that the goalie had possession (I'm not convinced) so the goal didn't count. But give credit to the first-year Doniak for a great hustle play.
Senior Caroline Miller - one of last year's stars - gave Virginia the second and third goals of the game in the 57th and 58th minutes of the game. On her first goal, she took a chip pass from Colaprico, dribbled around the goalie and deposited it easily in the net. As much as that was a great soccer goal, her second was a great physical goal. Just a minute after scoring the first, she put her cannon of a foot squarely on the ball and sent a powerful strike from 18' past the diving goalie and into the corner of the net.
Junior Kate Norbo closed out the scoring with a header off a cross from Doniak. Norbo chuckled when the ball hit the net, as her header just nicked the underside of the crossbar and bounced almost straight down - but far enough backwards to count.
Just a quick FYI, this was the first game back in Charlottesville for Head Coach Steve Swanson and sophomore midfielder Morgan Brian. Both are just back in the country from helping the U.S. U-20 team win the U-20 World Cup in Japan. Brian didn't play in tonight's matchup, but she was on the sideline.
Virginia returns to the pitch on Sunday at 2pm when they host North Carolina at Klöckner Stadium. It's a matchup of two top-15 teams as UNC enters the contest ranked twelfth in the country.