UVA Women's Soccer Stymied by Michigan in Scoreless Draw

Klöckner Stadium was the site of a men’s and women’s soccer doubleheader. The men did the job by defeating Iona 1-0. The women failed to turn the trick in the nightcap in a scoreless draw.

For several years now, Michigan native Steve Swanson takes the Virginia Cavaliers back to his home state for the preseason, and the team usually scrimmages the Michigan Wolverines. This year the two coaches agreed to make the now-annual meeting more formal with the Hoos hosting at Klöckner. That was all that went to plan as Michigan outplayed UVA in the first half and then held on for the tie.

My expectations were high as minutes before the game, it was revealed that Jill Flammia was back in the starting lineup. (Flammia had missed the Radford game due to a non-soccer injury.) It was good news for a team that is already missing three starters to season-ending injuries. 

While Michigan had a middling year last year – finishing 8th in the B1G Ten – and predicted to finish there again this year, the Wolverines are just a year away removed from a quarterfinals appearance in the NCAA tournament. This is not a team that is going to be awed by the 5th ranked Cavaliers. Michigan came out early, pressed a very high line against the Wahoos, and for the first half, largely dictated the pace of the game. In a way that usually only the Florida States of the world can do to UVA.

Steve Swanson teams are controlled, methodical and very deliberate, which is a good thing, but on this night the team crossed the line into lethargy. The Wolverines brought the intensity – you could see it on their bench and in the players’ body language – and attacked right back Chloe Japic and central defender Lacey McCormack when they had the ball, as well as the space behind Samar Guidry on the left.

The Cavs have injuries problems along the back line. It’s been confirmed that right back Laney Rouse has been lost for the season and her replacement, Japic, does not look nearly as comfortable on the right as she does on the left. She and McCormack combined for three lazy pass combinations in the first half that a better team would have punished. Guidry, for her part, is nursing tendonitis, which is going to be ongoing all season I presume, and she was slow getting back, ceding acres of space to Michigan’s Sarah Bridenstine. Bridenstine was looking like the ghost of Courtney Peterson past, whipping three fine crosses into the box in the first half. Again, a better team might have punished Virginia.

Brianna Jablonowski, who provided a high-octane jolt in midfield against Radford, would have been very useful on this night. Virginia was just out of sync: too many offsides, misplayed balls, and a pair of stupid fouls. The question was whether Michigan, who’d just traveled to Charlottesville after a west coast swing (and if the announcers were correct, three flights to get from Malibu) would be able to keep up the pressure in the second half.

Answer: apparently not. Virginia came out much brighter in the second half -- Swanson must give a heckuva halftime speech – and within about eight minutes had Michigan firmly on the back foot. In a five-minute span beginning at about the 57 minute mark, Virginia won three corners and had two dangerous free kicks. But Virginia on the night would put on a masterclass in how NOT to take dangerous set piece opportunities. Two short corners and a short free kick yielded nothing. Maggie Cagle got a free kick 25 yards out. You know, from the spot that Lia Godfrey would normally take the shot, and Cagle simply skyed the ball. It was about as bad a miss as you’ll see a quality ballplayer take. Four minutes later, Cagle got a second chance in almost the exact same spot. She blasted that shot over the bar too.

Cagle is struggling a bit in these early games. Last year she had the opportunity to pick her spots nestled among a forward line that included two NWSL first round picks. This year she’s having to be the focal point of the forward line. It’s a lot more pressure and I suspect she’s feeling it. By the middle of the second half, Cagle was dropping (uncharacteristically) deep to receive the ball.

Virginia had a couple of good chances to score and Cagle’s was the first. After a lovely give-and-go with freshman Yuna McCormack, Cagle got the ball inside the box. The keeper was near post with the back of the goal wide open and Cagle tried to finesse the shot and she pushed it just wide. She maybe missed by an inch. Flammia had a lovely run across the top of the box and she stroked a simple shot down low left, and she missed by maybe two inches. The best look of the night fell to Allie Ross off a great run and dish from Flammia. Ross was open and had time but elected to try to thread the needle near post and she was off by a couple of feet.

By this time, Michigan was playing for a draw. They removed a midfielder for a defender. They removed a forward for a defender. There were lots of substitutions. The clock doesn’t stop in soccer, and in the collegiate game, there is no added time. While Virginia was finally awake and on the front foot, and would have benefited from overtime, we’re now in year two of the no-OT regime.

Virginia had just awakened too late. The stadium announcer called out the final minute. Virginia was just lumping the ball forward. The game seemed destined for a draw. And then disaster almost struck. Cayla White was called on to make the play of the game to save the draw. Michigan’s Kali Burrell ran onto a lovely through ball, left Talia Staude five yards behind in her wake and had time on the ball. White played it textbook: she came out and kept herself big and snuffed out the only true chance the Wolverines had. Take a bow, Cayla. That was brilliant.

The Takeaway: This is a young Cavaliers team that lost a ton of talent to graduation. They’ve lost three starters now to season-ending injury. There’s going to be more fragility in the back. Yuna McCormack, who clearly has the talent to be a quality ACC player, has been thrown into the deep end. Meredith McDermott and Maya Carter up top are going to struggle against quality defenses. There are going to be more rockfights like this game looming in the future. But last night #1 UNC had their second 0-0 result of the young season and #4 Duke lost to USC. Swanson talks every game about the lessons that can be learned and how the team is going to move forward. Well, mission accomplished, there are a lot of lessons to learn from this game. It should be a rough and tumble ACC. 

Next Up: Now 2-0-1 on the season, the Hoos travel to George Mason on Sunday, August 27th. Gametime is 6pm and the game is on ESPN+.

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