A week after knocking off the No. 3 team in the nation, the Arizona soccer team could not come up with a repeat performance against the No. 8 team in the country, Virginia. The Wildcats dropped the championship game of the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic yesterday in Charlottesville, Va., 4-0, in Arizona’s first time being shut out this season.

“”I think (the loss) was just a matter of them being very good on the day, especially in the first half,”” said UA head coach Dan Tobias. “”Virginia is a good team, and a very good team at home.””

Arizona (4-2-0) found itself in a big hole early as the Cavaliers (4-1-1) scored three times in the opening 30 minutes of the game. The first Virginia goal came on the game’s first shot just three minutes in by Sinead Farrelly, her second goal of the year.

Shannon Foley followed Farrelly’s lead four minutes later with the second goal of the contest. Then at the 27-minute mark Meghan Lenczyk put Virginia up 3-0 with her second goal on the season.

“”They were super opportunistic with their scoring chances,”” Tobias said. “”Being behind that early to a team of that caliber makes for a very challenging rest of the match.””

After the three early goals by Virginia, Arizona managed to hold the Cavaliers at bay for nearly the rest of the game, though not without a struggle for the offense. Arizona attempted only four shots and only two were on target. The numbers were a vast difference from Virginia’s 19 shots and 10 shots on goal.

“”From the get-go, (the Cavaliers) controlled the possession and controlled the tempo of the game really well,”” Tobias said. “”They were very organized defensively while we had trouble getting into a rhythm, and that hurt us.””

Yesterday’s result differed greatly from the Wildcats’ performance only two days earlier. Arizona began the weekend where it left off breezing past New Mexico, 4-1 on Friday. During that game, the Wildcats led the offensive attack, attempting 17 total shots with four finding the back of the net. The four goals came from separate members of the Arizona squad.

Forward Analisa Marquez scored her first goal of the season while forwards London King and Jasmine Namdar tallied their second goals, and first-year player Jasmin Day scored her team-leading third goal of the young season.

Midfielder Sam Drees was an integral part of the Wildcats’ explosive offense, with assists on both Marquez’s and King’s goals.

“”We did a really good job on Friday,”” Tobais said. “”We came out and scored a couple big goals before the end of the first half, then followed that up with the two in the second half. We just wish we had been able to follow up that performance (yesterday).””

The only goal allowed Friday came in the 83rd minute when New Mexico’s Markee Nobriga pushed one past Arizona goalkeeper Danielle Nicolai. The goal was the first given up by Nicolai in a combined 243 minutes and 43 seconds.

After giving up this goal, however, Nicolai went on to give up four yesterday. But Tobias said the goals had nothing to do with the goalkeeping.

“”Virginia just created very good scoring chances. We had a few lapses throughout the day and (the Cavaliers) were there to take advantage of them.””