Cavaliers Now

No. 2 UVA Women's Soccer Wins Showdown at No. 4 Duke 1-0

Lia Godfrey's first-half goal proved to be enough for the Cavaliers to pick up another big top-five ACC road win

Matt Newton

Proud Chandragholica

In two trips to the state of North Carolina to play a pair of top-five ACC opponents on the road, the Cavaliers are 2-0. 

Lia Godfrey scored a goal in the 28th minute that proved to be the game-winner as the UVA defense smothered the Blue Devils and the Virginia women's soccer team picked up a huge 1-0 victory over No. 4 Duke on Sunday afternoon in Durham.

Duke outshot UVA 9-6 in the match, including a 6-2 edge in shots on goal. But, the Cavaliers had the advantage in terms of the quality of their shots and their ability to win and maintain possession in the midfield. 

Some crisp and accurate passing from the Hoos led to the breakthrough goal in the 28th minute. UVA gained possession and Lia Godfrey quickly pushed the ball up the field before threading a beautiful through ball to Haley Hopkins on the right side of the box. Hopkins took a couple steps before sending the ball back towards the middle of the box to Godfrey, who had smartly raced ahead to fill the lane after sending her pass through. Godfrey got good contact on the ball with her right foot and placed it in the back left corner of the net for her fifth goal of the season. 

Leading 1-0, the Cavaliers remained aggressive in the midfield and consistently put pressure on the Duke defense, but that pressure rarely materialized into legitimate scoring opportunities, as UVA had only two shots on goal in the entire match. 

Duke, on the other hand, put three shots on goal in each half, constantly testing UVA goalkeeper Cayla White. The senior keeper was up for the challenge, saving each of the six shots that came her way. Some of the shots were more troublesome than others, especially this point-blank shot from Maggie Graham on a fast break that was blocked with a nice sliding save by White. 

Virginia did well to play keep away with the ball, especially in the second half. UVA had a 6-4 advantage in corners, which the Cavaliers happily utilized to kill the clock once they had taken the lead. Duke's final scoring attempt of the match was a header from Mackenzie Puck with just over three minutes to play that White collected easily to seal the shutout. 

UVA has now defeated two top-five ACC opponents in the last couple of weeks, as the Cavaliers used an incredible comeback effort to beat then-No. 2 North Carolina (currently No. 3) 3-2 in Chapel Hill on September 17th.

With the win, Virginia moves to 10-1-1 overall and 3-1 in ACC play. The Cavaliers have no time to rest on their laurels, however, as another big-time matchup lies on the horizon with No. 7 Florida State coming to Charlottesville on Thursday at 8pm. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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