In its last game of the regular season, the No. 10 Virginia women’s soccer team will have the chance to hand No. 2 Duke its only loss in ACC play.
The Cavaliers (10-3-4, 5-1-3 ACC) enter the match after picking up two wins on the road against Syracuse and Boston College.
In their most recent game against the Eagles (9-8-1, 3-5-1 ACC), Virginia came from behind to get the 2-1 victory. Virginia junior midfielder Montana Sutton scored the game-winning goal in the match to pick up her third goal of the season. Also scoring against Boston College was Virginia freshman midfielder Taryn Torres, who is tied for the most goals on the team with six.
Virginia senior forward Veronica Latsko is the other Cavalier that has found the back of the net six times this season. Latsko has scored in four different games and has served as a leader for the Cavaliers in crucial situations. Her goals include a hat-trick against Pittsburgh, a game-tying goal against Notre Dame, a game-winner against Syracuse and a golden goal in overtime against Louisville.
Going into overtime against the Cardinals (9-6-2, 3-4-2 ACC) was not the only time the Cavaliers went beyond the 90 minutes of regulation time this season. Virginia has gone into overtime six times, with four of those matches ending in a draw.
While the numerous overtime games indicate that the Cavaliers have been even with their opponents, the results do not capture all of the offensive opportunities Virginia has generated. The Cavaliers are averaging 16.4 shots a game, while their opponents are averaging just six. Additionally, Virginia has taken 110 corner kicks this season and has only had to defend 45.
The Cavalier defense is headed by senior defender Megan Reid, sophomore defender Phoebe McClernon and freshman goalkeeper Laurel Ivory. This season, Ivory has allowed 12 goals and posted seven clean sheets.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils (16-1-0, 9-0-0 ACC) enter the match with a winning streak of 16. They have not lost a game since No. 4 North Carolina beat them by a one-goal margin in August. The Tar Heels (12-2-1, 8-0-1 ACC) also beat the Cavaliers with the same score of 2-1.
Duke, who is in first place in the ACC standings, has scored 40 goals this season and has only allowed eight.
Much of the offensive success for the Blue Devils has come from junior forward Kayla McCoy and senior forward Imani Dorsey. McCoy has 10 goals and four assists on the season, and Dorsey — a second-team All-ACC selection last year — has nine goals and six assists. McCoy scored the two goals in Duke’s most recent 2-0 win over Syracuse.
When Virginia and Duke have met the past two years, each game has been decided by one goal. In the 2015 match, it was Virginia that came away with the 1-0 win, while in last year’s game, Duke edged out the Cavaliers 1-0.
The last game of the regular season is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Klöckner Stadium. After Thursday night’s game, Virginia will prepare for tournament play. The ACC Tournament begins this weekend, and the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be underway in just over two weeks. Last year, the Cavaliers lost in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament and the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Cavaliers won the ACC Championship was back in 2012.
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