No. 1 Virginia Visits No. 4 North Carolina Sunday
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| No. 1 Virginia (15-0, 9-0 ACC) at No. 4 North Caroiina (13-2, 7-2 ACC) | |
| Date & Time | Oct. 20 | 1 p.m. |
| Location | Chapel Hill, N.C. | Fetzer Field |
| Coverage | UNC Video ($) | Live Stats |
| Additional Information | Twitter | Facebook | Game Notes |
Oct. 19, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The top-ranked Virginia women’s soccer team concludes its regular season road schedule Sunday with a showdown with No. 4 North Carolina. Game time at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill is 1 p.m., and a webstream of the game is available with a subscription to UNC’s GoHeelsTV.com.
The Cavaliers are looking to tie the school record with their 16th consecutive win. Virginia set the record by winning the first 16 games of the 1990 season before suffering a loss to North Carolina. A win over the fourth-ranked Tar Heels would also tie the school record for highest-ranked road win, matching a 2-0 win at then No. 4 Portland in 1999.
Both teams will be missing their leading scorers for the game. Virginia junior midfielder Morgan Brian (St. Simons Island, Ga.) and North Carolina senior midfielder Crystal Dunn are both with the U.S. Women’s National Team for Sunday’s friendly against Australia in San Antonio, Texas. Brian has nine goals and a league-leading 11 assists for the Cavaliers, while Dunn has 11 goals and three assists for the Tar Heels.
Virginia (15-0, 9-0 ACC) is the nation’s only unbeaten and untied team. In their fifth week as the nation’s consensus No. 1 team, the Cavaliers lead the nation in scoring at 3.33 goals per game. The Cavaliers have three players with over 20 points this season. In addition to Brian (29 points), sophomore forward Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.) has 11 goals and five assists for 27 points and sophomore forward Brittany Ratcliffe (Williamstown, N.J.) has come off the bench for 10 goals and one assist for 21 points.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 5-0 victory NC State Thursday. Ratcliffe had two goals and Brian had three assists to lead Virginia. The Cavalier defense posted its ninth shutout of the season, its fifth in ACC play.
The Tar Heels (13-2, 7-2 ACC) is riding a six-game win streak, the second-longest active winning streak in the conference behind the Cavaliers. North Carolina is coming off a 1-0 home victory over Syracuse Thursday.
North Carolina leads the all-time series 35-2-3, including a 16-2-0 record in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers have had better luck against the Tar Heels recently, going 2-0-1 against UNC the past two seasons. Virginia has won 1-0 in each of its last two games at North Carolina, in the 2011 regular season and the 2012 ACC Quarterfinals, and is looking to become the first team ever to win at Fetzer Field in three consecutive seasons. Close games have been the norm recently in the series, with seven of the last 12 games going to overtime.
Virginia returns home for the final three games of the regular season. The homestand begins Thursday as the Cavaliers host Miami. Game time at Klöckner Stadium is 7 p.m.