No. 3 Virginia Faces No. 9 Santa Clara Thursday At JMU
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia women’s soccer team (4-0-0) heads back out on the road this week and will begin competition against defending NCAA champion and ninth-ranked Santa Clara (2-0-2) in an 8 p.m. match on Thursday (Sept. 2).
The match with the Broncos is a neutral-site contest and is being played at JMU’s Sentara Park as part of the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational hosted by the Dukes.
ABOUT THE FAIRIELD BY MARRIOTT INVITATIONAL
The Fairfield by Marriott Invitational is hosted by JMU and will be played over two days with games taking place on Thursday (Sept. 2) and Sunday (Sept. 5) at Sentara Park. JMU, Santa Clara, Virginia and Virginia Tech are all participating in the event. The Cavaliers will also face JMU as part of the event with a 3 p.m. contest on Sunday (Sept. 5), but will not face the Hokies.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION AGAINST SANTA CLARA
There is no broadcast of the game between the Cavaliers and Broncos on Thursday night, but live stats will be available and are linked at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWomenSoccer).
QUICK KICKS
• Virginia remained at No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches poll after a pair of wins in week two of competition.
• The Hoos are playing their final road games of the non-conference slate at the Fairfield by Marriott Invitational.
• Rebecca Jarrett turned in a career performance in the last outing, tallying a career-high five points and matching a career high with two goals in the Virginia win over George Washington.
• Eight players have goals this season and eight players have assists for the Cavaliers through four games in 2021.
• Virginia has tallied 17 goals to date which is the fourth most goals by a team this young season. The Cavaliers are also 11th nationally in scoring offense with 4.25 goals per game.
• Jarrett has been a big part of that offensive production, leading the team in points (9) and assists (3) while tying with Haley Hopkins and Diana Ordoñez for the team lead in goals (3).
• Hopkins has made her presence felt quickly in her first season with Virginia, ranking atop the conference in shot accuracy (.875) and has fit in well with the Cavalier offense.
A LOOK AT SANTA CLARA
• Santa Clara enters the weekend with a 2-0-2 record and are coming off a 1-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton.
• The Broncos had previously drawn with California in a 1-1 contest and Seattle in a 2-2 contest.
• Kelsey Turnbow leads the team with three goals and an assist, including the game winner over San Jose State.
• The Broncos return all but two starters from last year’s squad that claimed the NCAA Championship.
• Redshirt sophomore Marlee Nicolos is in goal for the Broncos and has 11 saves on 29 shots faced and has conceded three goals this season.
THE SERIES WITH THE BRONCOS
• Virginia and Santa Clara have faced each other seven times with the Cavaliers leading the series 4-2-1.
• The programs first met in the 1991 season, a 1-0 victory for the Hoos at Santa Clara.
• Virginia won the last meeting between the teams, a 4-0 victory at Klöckner Stadium in the 2013 season.
• This will be the second neutral site meeting after won the first in the 2000 season in a tournament at Stanford.