The top-ranked Virginia women’s soccer team will face one of its toughest opponents of the season Thursday when No. 5 Notre Dame comes to Charlottesville.
Virginia (12-0, 6-0 ACC) is coming off a 3-0 shutout of Clemson Sunday, marking its seventh shutout of the season. The Cavaliers’ defense has been integral to the team’s success thus far, yielding an average of just more than half a goal per game. Perhaps a more telling statistic of Virginia’s defensive dominance is that the team has allowed double digit shots just once in the 12 games it has played this season.
“All of our defenders have worked really hard on trying to stay together as a line,” senior defender Morgan Stith said. “It’s also not just the defenders, because the offense is really our first line of defense. I think that the conjunction of all us working together, as well as good communication from our goalies, has really been helpful.”
The offense has certainly held up its end of the bargain. Eleven different Cavaliers have converted 40 of 126 shots on goal into scores this season, led by sophomore forward Makenzy Doniak’s 10 tallies.
Certainly, though, the Cavaliers will have their hands full Thursday evening with Notre Dame (9-2-1, 5-1-1 ACC), which has a potent offensive attack of its own. Junior forward Lauren Bohaboy has tallied six of the Fighting Irish’s 30 goals through 12 games.
“We’re going to have to do all of the little things in order to win this game,” coach Steve Swanson said. “We’re going to have to defend well, take our chances well, move the ball well and our transitions are going to have to be good. This is a good challenge for us at this point in time.”
In addition to being a dangerous team, Notre Dame is coming off an upset 2-0 loss to unranked Miami and will desperately need a rebound victory. The Cavaliers, however, have grown used to receiving the best effort from opponents each match.
“We’ve been getting everyone’s best shot all along and we don’t expect anything different this week,” Swanson said. “I think their players will come out with the same energy and effort that has made them successful this far, and we’re going to have to match that.”
The Cavaliers will have the distinct advantage of being well rested heading into Thursday’s match. Virginia had just one game last week and has not been on the road since Sept. 26. Conversely, Notre Dame played two grueling matches last week — one of which was in Miami — and now must travel from South Bend to Charlottesville.
“I think the fact that we had a whole week before the Clemson game really helped us,” Swanson said. “So, I think that we’re in a good spot in the sense that we did get some good rest last week.”
Virginia will also look to benefit from playing on its home field, where the Cavaliers have enjoyed enormous success. Virginia has earned nine of its 12 wins at Klöckner this season and is averaging just under 4 goals per game in Charlottesville.
“It’s definitely a huge advantage playing at home,” senior midfielder Kate Norbo said. “It’s important to be here with the support of our fans and family in a familiar atmosphere.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Thursday on free hot dog and soda night at Klöckner Stadium.
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