WVU salvages draw with Virginia

With less than six minutes to go in Virginia’s game against West Virginia at Klockner Stadium on Friday night, a game of pinball broke out.

When it was over, No. 15 UVa had a disappointing 1-1 tie after a goal by the Mountaineers’ Bry McCarthy.

The pinball started when a shot by West Virginia defender Meghan Lewis hit the far left post. The ball ricocheted off of diving Virginia goalie Chantel Jones and caromed right to McCarthy. She promptly fired a shot off the far right post.

After Virginia was unable to clear the ball, McCarthy blasted home a shot over a sprawling Jones.

Jones said she couldn’t ever recall consecutive shots banging off the posts. But what really frustrated her was not being able to smother the ball following Lewis’ shot.

“I don’t understand how it bounced off so far — I guess I was flexing my abs or something,” joked Jones, forcing a smile.

Jones refused to blame her defenders for not clearing the ball.

“I feel like we kind of stopped when it hit off the post, [but] most people freeze,” she said. “It’s natural. They just got to it faster.”

The game was a rematch of last season’s NCAA tournament second-round game between the schools that Virginia won, 3-2.

UVa players were noticeably dejected at not being able to hold on for the win. However, coach Steve Swanson said his team didn’t deserve to.

“To be honest, I felt like we were fortunate to get a draw,” said Swanson, whose team hosts Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon. “We really wasted the first 45 minutes. I think that was the worst half of our season. You have to give West Virginia a lot of credit. All the things we talked about before the game we just didn’t accomplish.

“I think once we did that in the second half, you saw the change…I thought we were better. But against a team like this you have to play 90 minutes — 110 minutes today.”

In the first half, Virginia (3-1-2) was outshot, 6-2. No. 16 West Virginia (2-1-3) held a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

After the intermission, just like Swanson said, UVa awoke. In the 65th minute, Sinead Farrelly headed in a cross from Maggie Kistner for a 1-0 lead.

“I saw it and just ran in and was able to put it in over the goalie,” Farrelly said. “I was just lucky. It was like slow-mo — a good feeling.

“After we scored, I think we thought we had it, but we kind of lost it after that. We’re bummed because we could have beat them.”

After the Mountaineers scored the equalizer, Jones showed great leadership. The sophomore, who spent last season playing for the United States under-20 team, pulled the entire team together near the top of the box and gave a pep talk.

“When someone scores that close to the end of the game, I felt like we were going to get frazzled and start freaking out,” she said. “I didn’t want that to happen because that’s when they score again.”

Luckily, the Mountaineers didn’t. West Virginia had the better of play in the overtime session but couldn’t convert on a couple of chances from in close.

“It would have been a great win,” Jones said. “It’s always disappointing, especially when you tie, because we had it. It was just a little lapse and they countered on it. We just have to move on and focus on Sunday.”