Sept. 2, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Arizona State women's soccer team came up short in its upset bid of No. 4 Virginia on Friday night as the Sun Devils fell to the Cavaliers 3-0.
The Sun Devils (2-1-0) were playing their first road game of the 2011 season after defeating Northern Arizona (7-0 on Aug. 19) and South Carolina (1-0 on Aug. 28) at home.
"[Virginia was] very good and we unfortunately made them look better," said ASU head coach Kevin Boyd following the match. "We were late on everything and very slow tonight. If you give a team like that time and space then they are going to keep [the ball] all night long which they did... Defensively we had a number of different issues that we need to correct."
Things did not go well for the Sun Devils right from the start. A little more than three minutes into the game Virginia (5-0-0) took the lead when Cavalier junior midfielder Julia Roberts fired a shot which deflected off a Sun Devil defender and into the net for the goal and a 1-0 lead.
Virginia would increase its lead to 2-0 in the 13th minute following Roberts' second goal of the game. Roberts had a clear shot at the net after Sun Devil goalkeeper Vittoria Arnold went down after being kicked in the face while attempting to cover a free ball.
The Cavaliers would put the game out of reach in the 61st minute when Caroline Miller one-timed a cross in front of the Sun Devil goal to make the final score 3-0.
ASU freshman forward Alexandra Doller led ASU with five shots (three shots on goal) in the game. Doller had ASU's best scoring opportunity of the match when she got loose on a breakaway in the first half. She was denied on her initial shot by Cavalier goalkeeper Chantel Jones, who knocked the ball right back to Doller. Doller appeared to have an open net on her rebound, however her shot was knocked away at the last moment by a sliding Virginia defender.
Alyssa Gillmore had four saves for the Sun Devils after replacing Arnold, who left the game due to injury following Virginia's second goal of the game.
The Sun Devils close out their road trip to the state of Virginia on Sunday (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) when they travel to Norfolk, Va., to take on Old Dominion.