The Virginia women’s soccer team hosted the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday and won by the score of 3 – 1.  But with a nation literally crying out for a return to normalcy – and sport was supposed to be the engine for this return – the ACC Network couldn’t be bothered to broadcast this game.  Per UVa guidelines, which I fully endorse, there were no fans allowed at the game. The night before, the ACC announced that the next week’s UVa v Tech football game had been postponed due to coronavirus concerns.  This is going to be the most “interesting” season in collegiate sports since at least World War II, and the powers that be are dropping the ball, as it were, already.

This season is nothing but a moneygrab for the last three Power 5 conferences playing this fall.  Rumor has it that the ACC was going to join the Pac 12 and B1G 10 in postponing all fall sports indefinitely.  That was, until they learned that they could grab Notre Dame football, heretofore the last major independent, and bring them – and millions of eyeballs – into the ACC.  Football and men’s hoops are the financial drivers of the college landscape and so the ACC decided to play, regardless of potential health and safety concerns of the students, for the money.  So if we’re playing sports and there are no fans, then there are no ticket sales and there are no concession sales, so the only money that can come in comes from broadcast rights.  And yet this game was dark.

Virginia won this pretty handily. I’m going by the box score since it is the only recourse available to me. We outshot the Hokies 21 – 3 with 9 of our shots on goal.  We had double the corners. Laurel Ivory didn’t have to make a save all game.

Virginia got on the board early, in the game’s 8^th minute, as Diana Ordonez continued her run from last season.  That was the score until the closing minutes when first Alexa Spaanstra scored and then freshman Lia Godfrey scored in a four-minute span to close up the game.  Virginia was called for a handball in the penalty box which Tech’s Emily Gray converted.

Virginia did produce a highlight spot, but these are the crappiest highlights I have ever seen.  Memo to whoever produced these:  warmups are NOT highlights.

Glad to be back on the pitch! ⁣
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Great goals from Diana Ordonez, Alexa Spaanstra and Lia Godfrey. A tremendous all-around team performance in the win over Virginia Tech. #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/asXbZTitvi

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) September 13, 2020

The most important news from the game was the absence of center midfielder Taryn Torres, who I learned midweek had been in a boot.  Emma Dawson, the freshman last year not named Diana Ordonez or Talia Staude who impressed me the most, got the start in midfield.  The back four, a concern given that we had lost three 3-year starters, was manned by Talia Staude, Claire Constant, transfer Sarah Parker, and newcomer Samar Guidry.  I had presumed that returning redshirt senior Lizzie Sieracki would start along the back line, but she got minimal minutes.  Even freshman Laney Rouse played more than did Sieracki.  Freshman Lia Godfrey, who started her UVa career with a bang – a goal and an assist – seems to have logger her minutes at midfield.

And that’s about all I can tell you.  When the ACC Network chooses to show Virginia’s games, I’ll be here, writing about them.  And I can guarantee you I will have better highlights.  The women’s next game, and first ACC conference game, is at Duke on Thursday.  I hope Torres is fit.