No. 5 Virginia Opens ACC Play Thursday Against No. 2 Duke

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia women’s soccer team (5-0-1, 0-0-0 ACC) opens ACC play on Thursday night (Sept. 11) when the Cavaliers host No. 2 Duke (5-0-1, 0-0-0 ACC) in a 7 p.m. contest at Klöckner Stadium.

Admission to all home Virginia soccer matches is free this season.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Thursday night’s contest will be streamed on ACCNX which is available through ESPN.com and the ESPN app. Live stats are also available and links to the stream and live stats are at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official account on X (@UVAWomenSoccer).

NOTING THE HOOS

• Virginia moved up in both polls this week, coming in at No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and moved up to No. 7 in the rankings released by Top Drawer Soccer after the win over #9 PSU
• The 1-0 shutout of Penn State last week was the fifth shutout of the season for the Cavaliers and gave Virginia its second straight result against a nationally-ranked opponent
• The Thursday game with No. 2 Duke is the fourth game in a five-game homestand and third straight against a nationally ranked opponent after facing No. 16 Georgetown and No. 9 Penn State
• It’s the second straight season that the Cavaliers have played a schedule that features three straight contests against teams ranked in the top 16 and two of those ranked in the top 10
• Victoria Safradin anchors a defense that has UVA tied for fourth nationally in goal against average (.167) and shutout percentage (.833) and fifth in save percentage (.957)
• Virginia is the ACC leader in each of those categories as a team with five shutouts through six games
• Safradin is also the ACC leader and second nationally in goals against average entering the week
• Maggie Cagle hit her 10th game-winning goal against the Nittany Lions and has 21 career goals
• Lia Godfrey and Cagle continue to be a dynamic duo for the Hoos as they both rank in the top five in active D1 players for career assists (Godfrey – 2nd/Cagle – T5th)
• The duo also have been prolific with a combined 41 goals and 55 assists between them – that total includes 17 game-winning goals and 23 game-winning assists from the pair
• Carrie Helfrich made her first career start and tallied her first career assist in the win over the Nittany Lions, combining with Addison Halpern who also had her first collegiate assist

THE SERIES WITH DUKE

• Virginia and Duke meet for the 53rd time when the teams face off on Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium
• The Cavaliers lead the series 25-17-10, though the last five games sit at 2-2-1 and UVA leads 4-3-3 in the last 10 meetings
• Meredith McDermott scored off a pass from Linda Mittermair to get the Hoos on the scoreboard in last season’s meeting at Duke
• Virginia leads the series 9-6-4 in games played at Klöckner Stadium with the last victory coming in the 2021 season