Virginia Visits Florida State For NCAA Quarterfinal

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia women’s soccer team looks for its second trip to the Women’s College Cup, its first in 20 years, as it visits ACC rival Florida State for an NCAA quarterfinal match on Friday. Game time at the Seminole Soccer Complex is 2 p.m.

Virginia is playing in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. The Cavaliers reached the semifinals in 1991, but have lost in their last two trips to the quarterfinals, in 2001 (at Santa Clara) and 2005 (at UCLA).

It is the third matchup of the season between the Cavaliers (17-4-2) and Seminoles (17-6-1). Virginia won the regular season meeting 4-3 in overtime on October 8 at Klöckner Stadium. Florida State won an ACC Tournament semifinal matchup 2-1 on November 4 in Cary, N.C. Overall the Cavaliers lead the series 16-1-4, including a 6-0-2 record in Tallahassee.

The eighth-ranked Cavaliers reached the quarterfinals with shutouts in their first three NCAA games, topping Long Island 2-0, Washington State 3-0 and Virginia Tech 4-0. The Virginia defense has posted shutouts in eight of the last nine games, with the loss to Florida State in the ACC semifinals the lone exception. Offensively, the Cavaliers lead the ACC and rank eighth nationally in scoring at 2.57 goals per game.

The sixth-ranked Seminoles are riding a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1), highlighted by winning the ACC Tournament. Florida State opened the NCAA Tournament with a 2-0 win over Samford at home before having to go on the road for the second and third rounds (due to the Seminole football team hosting Virginia last weekend). Florida State traveled to Memphis where it downed Portland 3-1 and Louisville 2-0.

The winner of Friday’s game will advance to the 2011 Women’s College Cup, held next weekend in Kennesaw, Ga. The Virginia-Florida State winner will play the Stanford-Oklahoma State winner in a national semifinal on December 2. The championship game is December 4.