Cavaliers post shutout

Virginia coach Steve Swanson referred to the first half of Friday’s game against West Virginia as a waste.
Well, UVa’s first-half performance on Sunday afternoon at Klockner Stadium was anything but.
No. 16 Virginia, thanks to three goals in the first stanza, bounced back from a disappointing tie against the Mountaineers with a 4-0 victory over Seton Hall.
“I thought the game on Friday, we wanted to get the ball on the ground and move it better, but ended up turning it over too many times,” explained Swanson, whose team doesn’t play again until Sunday when it hosts American. “I thought our decisions at times weren’t real good and led to interceptions by West Virginia, which led to chances. That’s something we have to do a better job on. Our ball movement isn’t
nearly as far along as I would have hoped it would be.
“It was a little better today, but I still think we’re turning the ball over a little too easily and too frequently in our defensive half. That’s something we’ll have to correct.”
Against Seton Hall, three different players scored for Virginia. That kind of balance has become something of a trend. UVa has had eight different goal scorers so far this season, while 14 players have notched points.
Virginia (4-1-2) seemed sharp from the get-go against the Pirates. In the 12th minute, forward Caitlin Miskel put a nice stutter-step move on a Seton Hall defender, then dished to Meghan Lenczyk near the top of the box. Lenczyk took a couple of dribbles, then launched a shot through traffic that found the back of the net.
“I think we came out better than we’ve been coming out,” Lenczyk said, “and I think that’s the reason we got up early. Hopefully we can keep doing that. That’s a key for us.”
Nearly eight minutes later, Lenczyk scored again. Virginia’s leading scorer notched her fifth tally of the season when she headed in an Amanda Fancher cross.
In the 26th minute, senior Jess Rostedt took a through ball from Sinead Farrelly and beat Pirate goalie Jennifer Pettigrew to put Virginia up 3-0. The goal was the 29th of Rostedt’s career, which moved her into 10th place on the school’s all-time list.
UVa midfielder Lindsey Miller added a goal for the final margin.
Seton Hall (3-3), which had upset Virginia at Klockner in 2006, didn’t record a shot until midway through the second half.
“We’re getting better there,” said Swanson, referring to his defense. “We have a lot to work on, but the nice thing now is that we have a little bit of time to train and to prepare.
“We have a full week to do some things we haven’t had time to work on.”
UVa goalie Chantel Jones, who was visibly frustrated after the team’s tie on Friday, was happy to snap the two game winless streak.
“I think it’s finally clicking with us,” Jones said. “We’re playing together more and beginning to understand each other a little more.
“We were able to win the ball high up the field so that they didn’t even have a chance to get a shot off.”