Morgan Stearns and Women’s Soccer highlight your Monday Motivation

It is time to kick off to the 2016-2017 Monday Motivation season! For those of you returning, welcome back. For our new readers, the idea is to give you a little taste of all the good things going on in Wahoo World to kick off your week on the right foot.

Let’s get to it!

Rapid Fire

- The No. 12 men’s soccer team has played two games so far this season, picking up a 2-1 win over No. 21 Coastal Carolina and playing to a 1-1 draw with Xavier.

Against the Chanticleers, the Cavaliers got goals from Paddy Foss and Edward Opoku. Foss’s score, the first of the season, came from the penalty spot as Coastal Carolina tackled second year Daniel Barir in the box. Virginia had a man advantage for the final 62 minutes of the game following a red card issued to Coastal Carolina. Defensively, UVA’s goalkeeper, Jeff Caldwell, notched four saves.

The Hoos followed up their win with a 110-minute, two overtime draw with Xavier. Virginia’s lone goal was an equalizer from first year Leon Maric in the 62nd minute. Caldwell had a stellar day in goal with six saves, two of which came in the overtime periods.

Next up, the Cavaliers take on James Madison in Harrisonburg before traveling to Wake Forest Saturday for their first ACC matchup.

• Women’s field hockey started the season 2-2 with a 5-1 win over Miami (OH) and a 3-2 overtime victory over Rutgers. Riley Tata leads the Hoos with four goals on the season and Lucy Hyams has notched three assists. Against Rutgers, Tara Vittese scored her first (and only so far) goal of the season.

• The track and field teams opened their seasons this week, sweeping the UVA duals in Earlysville, Virginia. Both the women’s (ranked No. 16) and the men’s (ranked No. 12) cruised to victory behind strong 4k races from Emily Mulhern, Sarah Astin, Lachlan Cook, John Pace, and Alex Corbett. Next up, the Hoos travel to Cary (NC) for the Adidas XC.
• The Virginia volleyball team started their season 3-3 with wins over Buffalo, George Washington, and LSU. Fourth year Haley Kole leads the Wahoos with 63 kills so far this season, while first year Kiley Banker has set the standard with 23 blocks. Next up, UVA will face the NCAA’s creepiest mascot as they face St. Louis at the Kentucky Bluegrass Battle on Friday.

Team of the Week

Second-ranked women’s soccer has gotten off to a fast start, winning their first six games of the season with a combined score of 18-0. So far, the Hoos have crushed Liberty (4-0), George Mason (2-0), Michigan State (YEAAAAH BUDDY 3-0 WHAT’S UP), Old Dominion (4-0), Oklahoma (4-0) and Pepperdine (2-0).

Veronica Latsko leads the team with five goals, Alexis Shaffer has three goals, and Taylor Ziemer has added two goals. Megan Reid leads the Hoos with three assists, and Latsko, Meghan McCool, Alissa Gorzak, and Tina Iordanou all have two assists so far.

Check out highlights of their latest win over Pepperdine:

Next, Virginia hosts Richmond (booo, hiss) on Thursday at 7pm in Charlottesville.

Wahoo of the Week

Morgan Stearns, a fourth year out of San Antonio, TX, is my choice for the inaugural Streaking the Lawn Monday Motivation Wahoo of the Week (StLMMWotW, so fetch). Stearns earned her 60th win in the game against Pepperdine, which is a program record. Additionally, she now holds the program record for consecutive scoreless minutes for a goalkeeper with 801:23. That’s over 13 hours of being just a total brick wall. That’s incredible. Way to go, Morgan!