CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia (0-0) women’s soccer team opens the 2020 season on Saturday night (Sept. 12), hosting Virginia Tech (0-0) in a 6 p.m. contest at Klöckner Stadium.

Due to health and safety considerations in addition to the current guidelines established for sports venues by the Commonwealth of Virginia, attendance at UVA home competitions is limited to family of student-athletes and each team’s coaching staff until further notice. There is no public admission to these events and all tailgating in University parking lots is prohibited.

MEDIA COVERAGE
There is no broadcast or stream of Saturday night’s game between Virginia and Virginia Tech. Fans can follow the action through live stats linked at VirginiaSports.com and through updates provided by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWomenSoccer).

QUICK KICKS
• Virginia kicks off the season with a home match against Virginia Tech in a non-conference matchup Saturday
• The Cavaliers return 17 letter winners and seven starters from last year’s squad that went 17-2-3
• The Hoos also return four All-ACC selections from last season and a pair of All-Region selections
• Offensively, Virginia welcomes back Diana Ordoñez who tied for the ACC lead in goals (15) a year ago and Alexa Spaanstra who was second in the ACC in assists (12) last season
• Ordoñez also was second in the league in points (34) as she added four assists in 2019
• UVA welcomes the second-ranked recruiting class to Grounds according to Top Drawer Soccer
• Eight newcomers were ranked in the top 170 recruits nationally by Top Drawer Soccer, including four in the top 36 and two in the top 10 – Samar Guidry (8th) and Lia Godfrey (10th)
• The Cavaliers will play an abbreviated season this fall, featuring a four-game ACC schedule and three against conference opponents designated as non-conference matches
• Virginia’s returning players accounted for 71 percent of the goals scored in 2019 (45-of-63) and a bulk of the assists with 82 percent (44-of-52) in 2019 coming from returning players

THE SERIES WITH VIRGINIA TECH
• The Cavaliers lead in the all-time series with Virginia Tech 20-4-1
• Virginia won last season’s meeting by a score of 2-0 in a meeting in Charlottesville
• The Cavaliers have outscored the Hokies 75-12 over the course of the series
• UVA has won eight of the last 10 meetings between the schools with both losses away from home
• The Cavaliers are 14-1-0 against Virginia Tech at home and 10-1-0 in matches at Klöckner Stadium
• The teams played seven times prior to Virginia Tech joining the ACC in 2004 with UVA going 7-0-0

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST VIRGINIA TECH
• Virginia and Virginia Tech met in Charlottesville last season, facing off on Sept. 26 at Klöckner Stadium
• The Cavaliers picked up a 2-0 victory over the Hokies with second-half goals from Meghan McCool and Diana Ordoñez
• McCool’s goal came off an assist from Ashlynn Serepca, while Ordoñez collected a loose ball and scored an unassisted goal
• Laurel Ivory posted two saves on the only two shots on goal for the Hokies with both coming in the second half
• The Hoos out-shot the Hokies by a 9-to-5 margin for the match with five shots on frame for the Cavaliers

WHO’S BACK FOR THE HOOS?
• UVA returns 17 letter winners and seven starters from last year’s squad that advanced to a 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament
• Back are four players who earned post-season honors from the ACC – forward Diana Ordoñez, and midfielders Alexa Spaanstra and Taryn Torres were all second-team selections. Goalkeeper Laurel Ivory was a third-team selection
• Ordoñez was also an ACC All-Freshman Team selection for the Cavaliers last season
• Torres and Spaanstra were both All-Region selections by the United Soccer Coaches last season
• Defender Talia Staude and Ordoñez were both named Top Drawer Soccer Best XI Freshman Team selections
• UVA returners contributed 45-of-63 goals scored a year ago and 44-of-52 assists
• Among those are four of the top five goal scorers – Ordoñez (15), Ashlynn Serepca (7), Sydney Zandi (5) and Rebecca Jarrett (5) –  and four of five of the top assist leaders – Spaanstra (12),
Jarrett (8), Anna Sumpter (6) and Ordoñez (4)

CAVALIERS WELCOME SECOND-RANKED RECRUITING CLASS TO GROUNDS
• The latest class of 10 newcomers to Grounds made up the second-ranked recruiting class according to Top Drawer Soccer
• Eight of the 10 players ranked among the top 170 recruits, while four of them ranked among the top 36 nationally
• Defender Samar Guidry ranked 8th, played in the 2018 U17 World Cup and has been a member of multiple US Youth National Teams throughout her prep career
• Forward Lia Godfrey ranked 10th, played in the 2016 U17 World Cup at 14 years old and has been a member of multiple US Youth National Teams throughout her prep career
• Defender Laney Rouse ranked 26th and midfielder Alexis Theoret ranked 36th with both players competing as members of multiple US Youth National Teams throughout their prep careers
• Midfielder Peyton Goldthwaite ranked No. 99, midfielder Laughlin Ryan ranked No. 116, forward/defender Sarah Brunner ranked No. 160, while forward Brianna Jablonowski ranked No. 170 in the recruiting rankings

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
• UVA kicks off an extended stretch of time away from home with road matches at Duke and Clemson next week
• The Cavaliers will face Duke on Thursday (Sept. 17) before continuing play at Clemson on Sunday (Sept .20)
• Both matches next week are designated as conference games and count in the ACC standings
• It will be the first two matches of three consecutive road contests for the Cavaliers