CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 14 Virginia women’s soccer team (6-2-2, 2-2-0 ACC) heads out on the road to kick off a three-game road trip with a contest at No. 18 Notre Dame (4-1-6, 2-1-1 ACC) on Thursday (Oct. 8). Kick is set for 7 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Thursday night contest will be broadcast on ACC Network and also is available on stream through ESPN.com and the ESPN app. Live stats are also available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official account on X (@UVAWomenSoccer).
NOTING THE HOOS
- Virginia enters the week ranked No. 14 in the ISWOC/United Soccer Coaches poll and ranked No. 12 in the latest rankings released by TopDrawerSoccer
- The Hoos are kicking off a three-game road swing with games at Notre Dame, SMU and Virginia Tech
- UVA is ranked No. 9 in the RPI ranking of the season and have the nation’s fifth-toughest schedule as of the most recent NCAA rankings update and the Hoos had played the nation's toughest schedule to date prior to the last outing with Syracuse
- The Cavaliers play a schedule that features 8 ACC teams ranked in the top 40 of the RPI and 10-of-17 contests against teams ranked in the top 40 of the RPI this season
- Addison Halpern leads the offense with 19 points (8G, 3A) and has factored into a goal in eight of the Hoos’ 10 contests this season after assisting on a goal in the win over Syracuse
- Halpern is top five in the ACC in points per game (1.90) and total goals (8) and she leads the league in shots on goal per game (2.40) with 56 percent of her shots on frame
- Jordyn Hardeman tallied her first collegiate brace, scoring twice in 1:52 in the win over Syracuse
- The UVA offense has flowed through multiple channels with 12 different players recording assists and 10 different players finding the net this season
- The Virginia defense has been steady this season, ranking third in the league in goals against average fourth in shutouts (4) entering the back half of the schedule
- Victoria Safradin continues to climb in the record books with 23 career shutouts, 32 career victories and 137 career saves to put her in the top 10 in all three categories in UVA history
- Safradin was one of 30 players named to the MAC Hermann Trophy midseason watch list last week
THE SERIES WITH NOTRE DAME
• Virginia and Notre Dame have faced each other 11 times with the Cavaliers leading the series 7-3-1 - The last meeting between the teams came in 2024, a 1-0 victory for the Irish in Charlottesville after weather delayed kick by a day
- The last meeting at Notre Dame came in 2022 with the Irish taking a 1-0 victory exactly two years prior to the 2024 meeting
- Virginia leads the series 3-1-0 in games played at Alumni Stadium over the course of the series