Cavaliers Now

Virginia Women’s Soccer Knocks Off Towson 2-0 in Season Opener

Virginia shut down Towson to begin their season of redemption

Val Prochaska

Virginia women's soccer was victorious over Towson in their 2024 season debut.
Virginia women's soccer was victorious over Towson in their 2024 season debut. / Virginia Athletics

Virginia’s 2024-2025 season has begun!  As has been the case for the last four or five years that I have been paying attention, the women’s soccer team has had the privilege of inaugurating the Virginia sports season, this time by hosting the Towson Tigers at Klöckner Stadium on Thursday.  Virginia won 2-0 behind a defense that allowed Towson just one dangerous shot.  (And it was a beauty as Kale’a Perry rocketed a shot off the crossbar from wide left, well outside the penalty box.)  That would have given the Tigers a first-half lead, but otherwise Virginia was able to maintain control of the game and won handily.

There are dangers to looking at the schedule and seeing a Towson pop up on the non-conference slate.  The Tigers did in fact go to the NCAA tournament last year, a feat which eluded the Cavaliers.  But the game announcer alluded to the fact that Towson did lose 80% of the minutes played by those women who won the Coastal Athletic Association to advance to the Big Dance. The only returner of note was Towson keeper Riley Melendez who did a fine job controlling her box.

Virginia was simply the better team on the night.  Yuna McCormack and Alexis Theoret controlled the midfield, which is usually the key.  McCormack was the beneficiary of Lia Godfrey’s injury last year, immediately slotting in and getting starter’s minutes in her first season.  She looks a step faster and is going towards goal more.  Theoret was more involved in the final third of the field, which is a bit of a change for her as she normally sits much deeper.  Given her on-ball prowess, this is only a good thing.

Virginia had plenty of chances, but profligacy in front of goal has long been a Cavalier problem and this night was no different.  Meredith McDermott missed a hat-trick of chances, even if she was bit unlucky.  (Two of her shots were cleared off the line.)  Maggie Cagle had a gift ball just outside the 6-yard box, but she skied it.  Allie Ross curled in nicely on one run, but pushed her shot well wide.

It wasn’t until 35 minutes in that Virginia got their first goal courtesy of Laughlin Ryan.  It was an emotional moment to be sure.  Ryan had season-ending injuries each of her first three years at Virginia but her quality is apparent.  This was her first goal and it allowed Virginia to enter the locker room at halftime up 1-0.

The second half was all Virginia for the first 30 minutes or so.  The Hoos couldn’t break through and then they seemed to tire as Towson worked their way back into the game.  And then Towson, as they were bringing the game to Virginia, ran out of steam themselves.  Virginia caught Towson on a counter and Cagle was fouled in the box.  She converted the penalty to give Virginia the 2-0 win.  This is a lovely take.  Cagle has her eyes up watching Melendez the whole way and she simply puts the ball where Melendez isn’t.

On defense, keeper Victoria Safradin wasn’t particularly challenged, and no one was going to get a hand to that shot of Perry’s.  Kansas transfer Moira Kelley has played a lot the past two games, and unlike the exhibition game where she was listed as a midfielder, she was the starting center back on this night.  Joining her in the center was senior Kiki Maki.  Maki redshirted her sophomore year and played erratic minutes last year, but with Lacey McCormack and Talia Staude having moved on, now her is her time.  I don’t know how good a defender she is going to be, but from this game alone, her passing out of the back is better than anyone we’ve seen in the past generation. She hit three lovely through balls to Allie Ross, something we haven’t seen as a feature of the Virginia attack.  How stout a defender Maki is will go a long way toward determining Virginia’s success this year.

Injury Notes

I guess this is going to be regular feature of the column.  Sigh.  After a season was doomed by injuries last year, it seems UVA is not free of the injury bug this year.

Emma Dawson and Jill Flammia did not dress out.  Aniyah Collier has not played the last two games.  Sophia Bradley, who greatly impressed in the exhibition versus Georgetown, did not play on this night.  In fact, head coach Steve Swanson only played six subs which is virtually unheard of for him.  Especially in a non-conference game.  Samar Guidry has a chronic condition and her minutes are going to be watched.  That’s a lot of talent sitting on the bench.

The good news is Lia Godfrey seems to be fully healed.  She chose to sit out most of spring training to recover, so her limited minutes thus far just seem to be getting her match fit.  She’s still got a ways to go; she looked gassed after just six minutes of play.  But that is what the non-conference slate is for.

Next Up
Virginia hosts Northwestern on Sunday, August 18th.  Game time is 1pm and the game will be on ACC Network Extra.

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Val Prochaska

VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for seven years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.