Women ousted in Virginia
Kat Kienle
Issue date: 11/20/07 Section: Sports
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Assistant Sports Editor
After an aggressive Greyhound defense hindered No. 7 Virginia in the first half, a four-goal offensive surge by the Cavaliers ended the Loyola women's soccer team's hopes of advancing further in the NCAA College Cup with a 4-1 loss in Charlottesville, Va., on Friday evening.
Despite the Cavaliers outshooting the Greyhounds 7-to-3 in the first 45 minutes of regulation, Loyola maintained the draw going into the intermission.
However, the Virginia offense came out revitalized, scoring the game's first goal just five minutes in. Virginia's Meghan Lenczyk sent a pass to teammate Nikki Kryzsik, who then beat her defender and sent a shot toward the far post for the goal to give the Cavaliers the 1-0 advantage.
However, the Greyhound offense was quick to respond. Just two minutes later junior Theresa Ferraina pursued the net from the top-right corner of the box, changed direction to beat her defender and drilled a shot to the left side of the goal for the 1-1 equalizer. The goal was her eighth of the season.
"When the center back (Krzysik) looked like she had `T' (Ferraina) locked up to the outside, she just chopped the ball back inside with her left foot," head coach John Byford said. "Her shot was just unstoppable. The goalie was flying through the air, but there was nothing she could do about it."
But Virginia was not to be quieted for the remainder of regulation, scoring three more goals, the first less than two minutes after the lone Loyola tally.
Cavalier Kelly Quinn nailed a right-foot shot at the top of the box for the eventual game-winning goal at the 55:28 mark to make it 2-1.
The Greyhound defense persisted, but Virginia soon netted another score, this time off the foot of Shannon Foley for a 3-1 lead with 16 minutes left in regulation.
"If we could have held the score at 1-1 for a little while longer, I think that it would have been closer at the end," Byford said. "[Quinn's goal] really took the wind out of our sails."
The Cavaliers solidified their victory and the 4-1 score with a fourth goal in the 88th minute.
"They seemed to come out harder in the second half," senior Brynn McGrath said. "It was frustrating because we felt that we were just running around a lot, but they kept possession and we were worked down a little bit. We fought as hard as we could, though, and we gave our whole hearts."
Loyola, who clinched the MAAC Championship title last Sunday, finished their 2007 season at 10-6-5.
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