Women's Soccer Opens Season Friday vs. Penn State

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No. 7 Virginia vs. No. 8 Penn State, presented by
Date & Time	Fri., Aug. 17, 2012 | 7 p.m.
Location	Charlottesville, Va. | Klockner Stadium
Multimedia	Live Stats | Cavaliers Live (video)
Additional Information	2012 Ticket Information | Twitter | Facebook

Aug. 15, 2012

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 7 Virginia women’s soccer team will open the 2012 regular season on Friday when it hosts No. 8 Penn State. Game time at Klöckner Stadium is set for 7 p.m. The game will be available to watch online through Cavaliers Live.

Friday’s game marks the first time Virginia has played a season opener with both teams ranked in the top 10 of the Soccer America rankings. The eighth-ranked Nittany Lions are the second-highest ranked opponent the Cavaliers have met in a season opener. In 2009, then-No. 11 Virginia opened the season with a 1-0 loss at No. 6 Penn State.

Tickets are $7 for adult general admission and $5 for youth, senior and faculty/staff general admission. Group tickets (20 or more) are $4.

Virginia returns seven starters among 20 returning letterwinners from last year’s squad that went 17-5-2 and reached the NCAA quarterfinals. The Cavaliers return 90 percent of their goal scoring from 2011, including 10 of their top 11 scorers.

Penn State is the preseason favorite in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions won their 14th consecutive Big Ten regular season title last year and finished the season with a 21-5-0 record, reaching the NCAA round of 16.

Penn State leads the all-time series between the schools 6-2-1. Last year, the Nittany Lions scored a 3-2 win over the Cavaliers at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia’s last win in the series came in the 2009 NCAA Tournament second round, when the Cavaliers scored six goals in 20 minutes to erase a 2-0 halftime deficit and win 6-2 at Jeffrey Field.

Both teams will have key absences due to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Virginia will be without head coach Steve Swanson, who is also the head coach of the United States U-20 Women’s National Team, along with All-American sophomore midfielder Morgan Brian. Penn State will be without All-American forward Maya Hayes, the nation’s leading scorer in 2011 with 31 goals, and midfielder Taylor Schram, who both join Brian on the U.S. squad competing in Japan.

Virginia continues its four-game homestand to open the season on Sunday when it hosts Radford. Game time at Klöckner Stadium is 2 p.m.