Sept. 6, 2010
Box Score
Site: Charlottesville, Va. (Turf Field)
Score: No. 3 Virginia 2, Northwestern 0
Records: NU (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten), Virginia (4-0, 0-0 ACC)
Next NU Event: Saturday, Sept. 11 vs. Missouri State (at St. Louis, Mo.) -- 3 p.m.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- For 69 out of a possible 70 minutes, Northwestern matched third-ranked Virginia step-for-step on the Cavaliers' home turf Monday in Charlottesville. But Virginia scored two goals off deflections in a span of 60 seconds early in the second half and held off a spirited Wildcat team to win, 2-0.
"I'm disappointed we lost today but Virginia is a great team," said Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs. "We had some great opportunities to score and games like these will make us stronger. Amanda Wirth played an outstanding game in goal and really helped us stay in the game."
Wirth recorded 13 saves in the cage for NU -- two shy of her career high set as a freshman -- as her goals against average dropped to 2.50. Wirth and the rest of the Wildcat defense also held Virginia to an 0-for-11 afternoon on penalty corner plays.
Northwestern, however, also was held scoreless on its five penalty corner opportunities.
After a scoreless first half in which Wirth stopped eight Cavalier shots on frame, Virginia continued to create opportunities in the circle before finally breaking through at the 42:07 mark of the game. UVA's Paige Selenski tipped in a shot on the doorstep of the NU goal for her eighth tally of the young season and followed that up just one minute later with yet another deflected shot and goal.
Northwestern's offense dominated the action following a timeout called by Fuchs with 12 minutes to play. The Wildcats forced two penalty corners and ripped off five successive shots at Virginia goalie Kim Kastuk, who recorded three saves in staving off an NU comeback attempt.
NU forward Chelsea Armstrong led the 'Cats with eight shots, increasing her Big Ten-leading total through six matches to 38.
Northwestern has two games remaining on its eight-game road trip to start the season, the first of which comes at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, when the Wildcats face Missouri State in Saint Louis.
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