No. 1 Seed Virginia To Host Radford In First-Round Matchup In NCAA Tournament
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s soccer team is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Radford (16-5-0) in a first-round matchup at Klöckner Stadium at 7 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 16), the NCAA announced with the release of the tournament bracket on Monday.
Radford claimed a second consecutive Big South Tournament title this past weekend with a 2-1 victory over Gardner-Webb. With the championship, the Highlanders received the automatic berth from the Big South.
This season marks the 22nd time in the past 26 years the Cavaliers have hosted NCAA Tournament play at Klöckner Stadium. Overall, Virginia has a 34-12-4 record in home NCAA Tournament games. The Cavaliers are making the program’s 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the 32nd overall. Only North Carolina has a longer active streak of tournament appearances and overall appearances (37).
Virginia had a program record seven players named All-ACC selections with Meghan McCool (Glenside, Pa.) named a first-team selection, Phoebe McClernon (West Chester, Pa.), Diana Ordonez (Prosper, Texas), Courtney Petersen (Canton, Mich.), Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) and Taryn Torres (Frisco, Texas) named second-team selections, and Laurel Ivory (Surfside, Fla.) named a third-team selection.
The Cavaliers posted a 19-game unbeaten streak to start the season, marking the third longest unbeaten streak in program history. Virginia’s only loss came in overtime to North Carolina in the finals of the ACC Championships. The Cavaliers faced 10 teams ranked in the top 25 this season with an 8-1-1 record against those opponents.
Virginia boasts one of the most prolific offenses in the nation this season, led by the top two goal scorers in the ACC as McCool and Ordonez are tied with 14 goals each. Spaanstra is also the top ball distributor in the league with 12 assists this season.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for NCAA Tournament matches at Klöckner Stadium can be purchased online at VirginiaSports.com or by calling the Virginia Ticket Office at 1-800-542-8821. Reserved seats are $8 in advance and $10 at the gate on game day. General admission tickets purchased in advance are $5 and $8 at the gate on game day. Students are required to purchase tickets. Children under two years of age are admitted free.
Reserved season ticket holders will be given an exclusive window to purchase their same reserved seats from the regular season before they are released to the public.
PARKING INFORMATION
Parking for Saturday’s match will be $5 in the JPJ-South lot beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans should be aware that men’s basketball and women’s basketball will also have games that day, with the men’s basketball team facing Columbia at noon and the women’s basketball team facing Kentucky at 5 p.m. Due to these coinciding events, fans should plan accordingly. Free parking is also available in the Emmet/Ivy Garage.
ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS
Radford is led in scoring by forward Nelia Perez who has 13 goals this season to go along with six assists for a team-leading 32 points. She is one of 10 different goal scorers for the Highlanders this season. Radford rallied with two goals in the second-half of the Big South championship match to claim their conference title for a second consecutive season as Perez hit the game winner in the 81st minute.
As a team, Radford has scored 37 goals while allowing 17 this season. Keeper Courtenay Kaplan started 20 matches in goal, making 75 saves while allowing 14 goals this season. She has three solo shutouts and has combined for three more shutouts.
Virginia and Radford have faced each other 11 times with the Cavaliers holding an 8-2-1 lead in the series. The last meeting came in the 2012 season.