I particularly like the Special Olympics athlete’s pledge:  Let me win.  But if I cannot win, let me brave in the attempt.  GW certainly didn’t come close to winning, but they were brave in the attempt.

Virginia                      6
George Washington  1

Ok, maybe a little foolhardy.  GW coach Michelle Demko lined the Colonials up in a 3 – 5 – 2 and did not deploy any of her five midfielders to help the back three.  As a result, just three central defenders were tasked with sliding out in the acres of open space to challenge Virginia’s wings, Rebecca Jarrett and Alexa Spaanstra.  Maybe Demko had read my observation that Spaanstra was having trouble beating players off the dribble this year.  In any event, Spaanstra and Jarrett boatraced the GW back line.  Twice in the game’s opening three minutes, Jarrett was given through balls on the wing that left her racing to the end line.

The tradeoff, in theory, is that more players in midfield would allow GW to control the ball and maintain some semblance of possession.  The six-goal scoreline suggests that they didn’t.  The midfield and attackers are playing much better defense this year, especially Diana Ordonez and Jarrett.  It’s like they are taking their College Cup intensity from last spring and have brought it to the preseason this year.  And then there was this play from Sydney Zandi, maybe my favorite non-goal play of the day.

UVa women (soccer) handle GW pretty easily today at Klockner. Lots of goals, but this may be our favorite play of the game: Sydney Zandi hunting the ball.#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/a6xy3McgEo

— Hoos Place (@HoosPlace) August 30, 2021

Hard to maintain possession when your midfield is being hunted like that.

Continuing a nice trend this season, the Cavaliers scored early – in the 4^th minute – when Haley Hopkins worked her way into space, was fed beautifully by Taryn Torres, and had a one on one with the keeper.  Haley tried to go around Maki, didn’t, and the ball fell to Spaanstra who slotted the ball home.  If there’s something to worry about on the Virginia front line it’s that Hopkins has had three very similar opportunities – ball on her left foot, and she tries to go wide left – and she’s failed to register a goal on any of them.  She’s either got to shoot faster or else Steve Swanson needs to move her to the right.

Once again, for the 3^rd ranked Cavs, the game was effectively over.  In the next minutes, Virginia had four or five really fine looks at goal, all of which were a result in the gulf in class between the two squads.  Ten minutes after the first goal, Hopkins received a great ball outside the box, turned, took a dribble to lure her defender to her, and slotted a ball to Jarrett who nailed it on the fly.  2 – 0.  Two minutes later, playing off a short corner, Lia Godfrey delivered a perfect cross to Claire Constant as the GW defense was napping.

The mandatory water break couldn’t come soon enough for GW.  The lengthy pause, plus the insertion of Virginia’s green team allowed the pace to slow a bit and for the Colonials to escape to halftime without suffering any further damage.  And just two minutes into the second half, hope erupted for the Colonials.  Bringing the ball down the left wing, first Margaret Rabbit outmuscled Jarrett and advanced the ball to Abby Mansoor, who similarly outmuscled Talia Staude, and delivered a cross to the incutting Maria Pareja.  Pareja hit the ball first time with her left and delivered a perfect ball into the lower left corner of the net.  Virginia’s lead was down to two and it was game on.

In the essence of full disclosure, here’s the goal.  It was a lovely shot, made possible by two successive strong plays by GW.  Virginia is, of course, not going to show this as a highlight, because why would they.  And I’m not sure ESPN would release the rights to a non-ACC team, and even if they did, I’m pretty sure GW staff is not going to publish highlights of a 6 – 1 loss.  But we here at HoosPlace will recognize any great play, because to beat Staude and Laurel Ivory, well, that takes some doing.

Credit where credit is due: GW's Maria Pareja briefly stops the bleeding for the Colonials at Klockner where UVa's women were victorious.

A fine goal.#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/MSy8cUieNR

— Hoos Place (@HoosPlace) August 30, 2021

But here’s the thing about Swanson’s Cavaliers.  These women never give up.  In a move reminiscent of Anna Sumpter’s goal vs Wake Forest or Sydney Zandi’s versus Penn State (both two years ago), Jarrett scored 45 seconds later to re-establish order on the pitch.  Hopkins would finally get her goal and Cam Lexow scored, and this time it wasn’t a deflection.  A great game all around as Swanson was able to get 26 players into the game, and all 26 played at least 11 minutes.

Injury Notes:  None that I could see.  And no tea leaves to read.

Coaches Reading HoosPlace:  A new recurring feature.  In addition to Zemko underestimating the threat coming down her right side from Alexa Spaanstra, Swanson saw the same corner deficiencies as I, and our third goal came from a short corner kick.  On the day, we had 8 corners.  Not one hit the side netting this time around.

Next Up:  The marquee matchup versus Santa Clara on Thursday, September 2^nd.  The game is now on Thursday, and given that the remnants of Hurricane Ida should be in Harrisonburg on Wednesday, the decision to slot the game a day later makes a lot more sense.  A little luster has been lost, given that Santa Clara has had a pair of draws, but this is still the reining champion.  It should be a great match.