No. 1 Virginia Heads West To Face Cal Thursday Night

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia women’s soccer team (10-0-1, 4-0-0 ACC) heads on a west coast swing this week for two games beginning with a matchup at Cal (6-2-6, 2-1-2 ACC) on Thursday (Oct. 9). Kick is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Thursday night’s contest with the Bears will be streamed on ACCNX through ESPN.com and 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 held down the top spot in the United Soccer Coaches rankings for the fourth straight week and stayed at No. 2 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll following the win over Virginia Tech
• The Cavaliers also maintained the top spot in the RPI for the fourth straight week
• Lia Godfrey, Laney Rouse and Victoria Safradin were on the MAC Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List this week as the trio are part of the 35 player list from the United Soccer Coaches
• Godfrey hit her fourth game winner of the year and sixth goal of the season against Virginia Tech last week as she and Maggie Cagle hit the two goals for UVA in the 2-1 victory
• Godfrey and Cagle continue to be an offensive threat for the Hoos as both players rank among the top 4 nationally in career assists among all active D1 players (Godfrey 2nd, Cagle T4th)
• The duo have combined for 48 goals and 59 assists throughout their careers with the Hoos
• Godfrey hit the game winning goal in three straight contests for the Cavaliers and leads the team with four game-winning goals and seven total goals on the season
• Godfrey has been potent in the midfield with Ella Carter as the pair have combined for 10 goals and five assists – six of those goals are game winners and two assists came on game-winning goals
• Safradin sits second nationally in goal against average (0.300) and in save percentage (.919)
• The Virginia keeper staff has been stout, ranking first nationally in save percentage (.923) and ranks second nationally in goal against average (.273) heading into the week
• The game against Cal is the first of two on the west coast for the Hoos and is part of UVA’s second two-week road trip in conference play as UVA plays five of it’s first seven ACC games on the road

THE SERIES WITH CAL

• Virginia and Cal meet for only the second time in program history when the teams face off at CA Edwards Stadium
• The Cavaliers won the only other meeting with a 1-0 victory in the 1995 season in a neutral-site matchup in Livermore, Calif.
• This is the first meeting between the two teams as ACC opponents and at one of the team’s campus venues