No. 15 Cavaliers Open Season At West Virginia Thursday
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Thursday night’s contest at West Virginia will be streamed on ESPN+ which is available at ESPN.com and through the ESPN app. Live stats are also available and linked at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official account on X (@UVAWomenSoccer).
NOTING THE HOOS
• Virginia enters 2025 ranked No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and is one of eight ACC teams ranked in the top 15 of the initial poll from the coaches’ association
• Senior forward Maggie Cagle was named a preseason All-ACC selection by the league’s coaches and has earned All-ACC honors the previous three years of her career
• Cagle was also named to the Forwards to Watch list in the preseason by United Soccer Coaches
• Victoria Safradin was named to the Goalkeepers to Watch list in the preseason by the United Soccer Coaches – one of 13 players to be named to the list this season
• Ella Carter was named to the preseason Midfielders to Watch list by the United Soccer Coaches
• Virginia returns 85 percent of its offense from a year ago with 29-of-34 goals returning and 23-of-30 assists from last season’s team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament
• Cagle and Lia Godfrey are two of the most prolific ball distributors in the NCAA entering the season as both players rank in the top 6 among all active D1 players in assists per game for a career
• The Hoos return 20 players off last year’s squad and welcome a 10-member recruiting class that ranked No. 4 nationally and features two top-five recruits and five recruits ranked in the top 50
• Head coach Steve Swanson is closing in on 500 wins for his career with as he enters his 36th season as a D1 head coach and 26th season at the helm of the Cavalier program
• The Cavaliers are 23-2 in season openers under Swanson and 3-1 in season openers on the road
• This is the third time UVA has opened a season with West Virginia and the Hoos won the first two meetings (2003, 2011) by scores of 1-0 and 2-1, respectively
THE SERIES WITH WEST VIRGINIA
• Virginia and West Virginia have met 20 times with the Cavaliers holding a 13-4-3 lead in the all-time series
• The Hoos have won back-to-back meetings in the series, taking the 2021 meeting and the 2023 meeting
• Three of the last four meetings have been decided by one goal with the fourth being a 1-1 draw between the teams
• UVA leads 4-3-1 in games played at WVU with the Mountaineers taking a 1-0 victory at home in the first of two April 2021 games
• It’s a tight series with 13 games decided by one goal and the three ties
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
• Virginia continues action at home next week with a 5:30 p.m. contest against Xavier on Thursday (Aug. 21)
• The game will be part of a doubleheader with the Virginia men’s team
• Admission to all men’s and women’s soccer games is free to the public this season
• The women’s team will be holding an autograph session following their game