Women's soccer doesn't come close in ACC opener at Virginia

One goal would have been enough to win all of the Terrapins women's soccer team's games this year.

A goal against No. 1 Stanford on Aug. 26 and another against James Madison on Sunday night, and the unbeaten Terps would have been looking at a spotless 8-0-0 record going into last night's game at Virginia instead.

Last night in their ACC opener, the Terps got one goal, but it wasn't enough. Not even close.

Virginia (7-1-1, 1-0-0 ACC) jumped out with early goals in both the first and second halves and never looked back in its 4-1 victory over the Terps (6-1-2, 0-1-0) at Klockner Stadium.

"Virginia was just better, simple as that," coach Brian Pensky said. "We were not good enough, and tonight, they were too good for us."

The No. 14 Cavaliers not only overwhelmed the No. 3 Terps on the scoreboard, but also on the stat sheet as well. Virginia took 18 shots, placing five of them on goal, to the Terps' six shots, three of which were on goal.

"I think it's certainly an eye-opener," Pensky said. "It gets us asking and wondering, How good do we want to be? How committed to this do we want to be?"

Last night's game was the team's first without forward Jasmyne Spencer, who is out for the foreseeable future with injuries to her ribs and head. Sade Ayinde started in her place and took one shot on goal in 38 minutes of playing time.

Pensky made it clear that one player does not make a team, but the absence of Spencer does leave a hole on the field that the Terps will have to fill moving forward.

"I think Jasmyne's fight and intensity and her pace and on the field leadership, we didn't have it tonight," he said. "That didn't help the situation. But we've got to deal with it. We're good enough to be great while she's out, and we've got to embrace that fact. I'm confident that we will and we're going to be OK."

The Terps' possession against the Cavaliers was not up to its usual standards, Pensky said, something Spencer's play helped with. That opened the door for a handful of Virginia opportunities. The Cavaliers jumped out on the Terps early when forward Gloria Douglas scored a goal in the 14th minute and Caroline Miller added another four minutes into the second half.

Terps midfielder Olivia Wagner managed to cut the Virginia lead in half with a goal in the 56th minute, but Miller pushed the lead to 3-1 in the 60th and Kaili Torres iced the game with a goal in the 77th.

The Terps will try to right the ship Sunday night at Ludwig Field, but the days of playing American and Loyola, he knows, are long over.

"It doesn't get any easier with Virginia Tech coming in this weekend, BC after that, so on and so forth," Pensky said. "We'll decide how we want to play, both tactically and mentally, and get ready for Sunday."

dgallen@umdbk.com