UVa tops American to extend streak

In the first half of Virginia’s game on Sunday afternoon against American, UVa sophomore Sinead Farrelly blasted a left-footed shot from just inside the top of the box that seemed like a lock to land in the back of the net. The ball perfectly arched over the head of American goalie Arianna Efstathiou, but, at the last instant, nicked the underside of the crossbar and deflected back onto the field.
“I feel like I hit the post with my shots all the time,” Farrelly said, “so I wasn’t surprised — just disappointed I guess.”
The miss, however, only appeared to provide more motivation for the Pennsylvania native.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Farrelly ripped another shot from a similar area on the field. This time, she hit pay dirt.
Farrelly’s goal, coupled with a late tally from Meghan Lenczyk, propelled Virginia to a little bit harder than
expected 2-0 win in front of a crowd of 902 at Klockner Stadium. UVa (5-1-2) was playing without three major offensive players — Jess Rostedt, Caroline Miller and Lauren Alwine — who were all nursing injuries.
“We’re very excited to get the win,” said Virginia coach Steve Swanson, who sounded optimistic that his trio of players wouldn’t be out much longer. “I think a lot of these [non-conference] teams come in with a lot to prove. They’re organized. I thought American sat back and defended real well and was looking to get the counter goal on us.
“I was happy to get the win. Some things we have to get better at for sure, but there are some things we improved from the past game. I think you have to look at the things we did well and build on them.”
Virginia, now riding a seven-game unbeaten streak, outshot the Eagles 17-6.
Farrelly’s close call in the first half was actually one of several missed opportunities. With under 30 seconds to play in the stanza, sophomore Katie Starsia had a golden chance to put Virginia up. Starsia got the ball deep in the American box. With Efstathiou completely out of position, she fired a shot right off an Eagles defender, who was standing on the goal line in Efstathiou’s stead.
“I think we should have scored more goals,” Farrelly said, “but I think this was the first game where we didn’t get a lot of quality chances.”
In the 89th minute, Lenczyk was able to give Virginia some breathing room when she headed in a cross from Lindsey Miller for her team-leading sixth goal of the year.
“It came right to my head and I just put it in,” Lenczyk said. “I was just trying to put it on goal.”
Efstathiou, who kept American (4-4) in the game, finished with six saves. Swanson said she played well, but Virginia helped her out a bit.
“Some of our decisions about when to cut loose and unload maybe could have been a little better,” he said, “but I thought defensively they were solid.”
Lenczyk said Virginia is going to have to play much better on Thursday when it opens its ACC season on the road versus N.C. State.
“I think we came out better this game,” she said, “but our problem is we didn’t finish well enough, and so it got a little hectic in the last 10, 15 [minutes].
“We just need to work on being consistent for 90 minutes.”
Swanson said that a major positive has been Farrelly’s development this season.
“I’d like her, at times, to be even more aggressive inside the box,” he said, “but I think these are the things she wasn’t doing a year ago — looking to shoot. She’s doing that now and we need it.
“That was a great strike,” he continued, “and something she’s very capable of.”