No. 17 Virginia Heads To Liberty For Sunday Matchup

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 17 Virginia women’s soccer team (2-0-0) hits the road on Sunday (Aug. 24), traveling to take on Liberty (2-1-0) in a contest set for 1 p.m. at Osborne Stadium.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday afternoon’s match will be streamed on ESPN+ which is available at ESPN.com and through the ESPN app. Live stats are also available and links to both are at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official account on X (@UVAWomenSoccer).

NOTING THE HOOS

• Virginia enters week ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and also entered the rankings for Top Drawer Soccer at No. 24 after not being ranked in the publication’s preseason rankings
• Virginia is coming off a 3-0 victory over Xavier on Thursday night and the Cavaliers have posted back-to-back shutouts to start the season and three straight dating back to last season’s finale
• Following the game at Liberty, the Cavaliers will return home for a stretch of five straight home games that includes No. 1 Duke, No. 14 Penn State and Georgetown
• Lia Godfrey delivered in the win over Xavier with an assist on the game-winning goal and a goal of her own to cap the scoring in the 3-0 victory over the Musketeers
• Victoria Safradin matched a career high in saves against Xavier, tallying six saves in the shutout
• Safradin and the Hoos have posted 374:16 consecutive shutout minutes dating back to last season’s win over Princeton in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament
• Allie Ross scored her first goal of the season with the opening goal and game winner against Xavier
• Maggie Cagle and Godfrey are two of the most prolific ball distributors in the NCAA entering the weekend as both players rank in the top 6 among active D1 players in assists per game for a career
• Each part of the duo also ranks in the top 4 among all D1 players in total assists in a career with Godfrey ranking second (31) and Cagle ranking fourth (24)
• Tatum Galvin delivered her first career assist on the Ross goal in the match against Xavier, while freshman Pearl Cecil scored her first collegiate goal in that win over the Musketeers
• Godfrey also leads all active NCAA women’s soccer players in games played (87) regardless of division

THE SERIES WITH LIBERTY

• Virginia and Liberty have met 16 time previously with the Cavaliers holding a 16-0-0 lead in the all-time series
• The last meeting came in the 2019 season with Virginia taking a 6-0 victory in that matchup in Charlottesville
• This is only the second matchup played at Liberty as 15 of the previous 16 meetings have all come in Charlottesville