Previews for football and field hockey can be found online and in Thursday's Cavalier Daily.
Women’s Soccer
What: ACC Tournament Semifinals: No. 1 Virginia (15-1-1, 9-1-0) vs. No. 6 Clemson (13-3-1, 7-3-0 ACC)
Where: WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, N.C.
When: Friday, 5:30 p.m.
The Skinny: Flashback to the night of Oct. 8, when the then-No. 3 Cavaliers picked up a huge 2-0 win at then-No. 5 Clemson. Virginia broke through in the second period, as senior winger Brittany Ratcliffe scored at 47:15 and junior forward Morgan Reuther headed home an insurance goal at 83:27. Senior forward Makenzy Doniak, who won the ACC Offensive Player of the Year Award Thursday, did not play because of a hamstring injury.
The Cavalier backline forced Tiger attackers to settle for ambitious attempts: out of 14 total shots only three required junior goalkeeper Morgan Stearns to make a save, and a routine one at that. Clemson totaled 11 corners to Virginia’s four but struggled to get on the end of any inswinger or outswinger. So the Cavaliers held on to the shutout, their seventh of the season. One could argue this victory kick-started the stretch run that has Virginia playing its best soccer heading into the ACC Tournament.
Friday evening in Cary, N.C., where junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer calls home, the No. 1 Cavaliers (15-1-1, 9-1-0) and the No. 6 Tigers (13-3-1, 7-3 ACC) will have a heated rematch. The winner of will advance to the ACC Tournament Final against either No. 4 Florida State or No. 8 North Carolina Sunday afternoon. Since the Oct. 8 loss to Virginia, Clemson has won four of five games including a signature 3-2 win over then-No. 9 Virginia Tech three days after falling to the Cavaliers.
Junior Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who tied the Tiger program record with her 21st career shutout in the final regular-season match versus Syracuse, has led Clemson throughout the season. Even on off nights, Sheridan usually gives her inconsistent offense a chance to equalize or jump ahead. But Friday, Sheridan and her back four should be overwhelmed by the elite Virginia trio of Doniak, Shaffer and Reuther, who have combined for 27 goals — three fewer than the Tigers season total. On the other end, senior center back Emily Sonnett, who garnered ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors on Thursday, should again unnerve Clemson striker Catrina Atanda and ensure a fifth-straight Cavalier return to the ACC Tournament Final.
—compiled by Grant Gossage
Volleyball
What: Virginia (15-8, 7-5 ACC) vs Miami (16-7, 9-4 ACC), No. 16 Florida State (18-6, 11-2 ACC)
Where: Miami & Tallahassee, Fla.
When: Friday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 8, 1 p.m.
The Skinny: The Virginia volleyball team is looking to get back on track after a tough loss at home to Duke 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-14). In what should be a tight contest, the Cavaliers will take on the Miami Hurricanes (16-7) Friday in Miami. The Hurricanes are coming off of a convincing 3-1 victory at home over the Florida State Seminoles, who are ranked 16th in the nation.
Following the match against Miami, the Cavaliers travel to Tallahassee to face off against the Seminoles. The road matches against Miami and Florida State will precede a Virginia return to Charlottesville to kick off a four-day home stand.
The match against Miami will be held at 7 p.m. Friday evening and the match against Florida State will be Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
—compiled by Rahul Shah
Men’s Soccer
What: No. 23 Virginia (9-3-3, 4-2-2 ACC) vs. No. 6 Notre Dame (9-3-5, 4-2-2 ACC)
When: Sunday, 1:00 PM
Where: Notre Dame, Ind.
The Skinny: The 23rd ranked Virginia men’s soccer team will begin their postseason campaign this Sunday against the 6th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an ACC tournament quarterfinal match.
The two teams received byes for the first round of the ACC tournament, with Virginia as fifth seeded team of the conference and Notre Dame as fourth seed.
Notre Dame got the best of Virginia earlier this season when they beat the Cavaliers 3-1 at Notre Dame Sept. 25. Led by an ACC leading scorer sophomore Jon Gallagher (eight goals), the Fighting Irish have been especially formidable at their home stadium, where they hold a 7-1-1 record.
However, Virginia is confident in its ability to redeem themselves from that game this time around. While Notre Dame has been somewhat inconsistent since that match, going 2-1-4 in the month of October, Virginia ended the season in top form, recording a tie against then-fifth-ranked North Carolina Saturday in an evenly played game.
The Virginia players are also very experienced with playing in postseason matches. Of the 15 players that played in last year’s national championship victory over UCLA, nine of them are on this year’s team, including senior Todd Wharton, juniors Patrick Foss and Niko Corriveau and sophomore Jake Rozhansky. This experience should help the Cavaliers to be composed and prepared for a big game like this.
Both teams are contenders to be the ACC tournament champion in what is widely viewed as the toughest conference tournament in the country. With eight ACC teams ranked in the top 25, the ACC is as competitive and powerful as it has ever been. Expect both teams to play passionately as they attempt to advance to the next round of the nation’s toughest conference tournament.
—compiled by Jack Gallagher
Wrestling
What: Virginia vs. No. 25 North Dakota State; vs. No. 17 Minnesota, vs. South Dakota State, vs. Grand Canyon
Where: Fargo, N.D.; Minneapolis, Minn.
When: Friday, 3 p.m.; Saturday 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Skinny: After claiming six championships at the 2015-16 season-opening Clarion Open, the Virginia wrestling team will look to carry its momentum forward this weekend. Traveling north, the Cavaliers will face a flurry of challengers: the No. 25 North Dakota State Bison on Friday and the No. 17 Minnesota Golden Gophers, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and the Grand Canyon Antelopes in a quad meet Saturday.
Sunday’s matchup against the Golden Gophers will mark its first time wrestling at a ranked team’s home since visiting top-ranked Iowa last February.
Against No. 25 North Dakota State, the Cavaliers will have to take on three wrestlers who are in the top 25 of their respective weight classes: junior Josh Rodriguez (No. 14, 125 lbs.), sophomore Clayton Ream (No. 21, 149 lbs.) and senior Hayden Zillmer (No. 6, 184 lbs.) Other notable wrestlers for the opposing teams include Minnesota’s juniors Brett Pfarr (No. 7, 197 lbs.) and Michael Kroells (No. 6, 285 lbs.) and South Dakota State’s senior Cody Pack (No. 7, 157 lbs.)
—compiled by Ben Tobin
Women’s Tennis
What: UNC Fall Invite
Where: Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C.
When: Friday, Nov. 6; Saturday, Nov. 7; Sunday, Nov. 8
The Skinny: Virginia women’s tennis travels to Chapel Hill this weekend for the UNC Fall Invite, where the 12th Kitty Harrison Invitational will be held, the team’s final tournament of the fall season. Tournament play will be split between the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, and at Duke University in Durham.
Virginia looks to follow their team title at the ITA Atlantic Regional in Lynchburg in mid-October, where they claimed both the singles and the doubles draw.
The competition for the weekend will include host North Carolina, UNC Wilmington, Texas, Duke, Maryland, William & Mary, Ball State, Davidson, Georgia Southern, East Carolina, UNC Wilmington, South Carolina, Middle Tennessee State, Penn State, Rice, Elon, Michigan, VCU, LSU and Virginia.
The tournament will run all day Friday through Sunday.The Cavaliers will not take the courts Friday at 10 a.m. against Duke and Saturday morning at 9 .m. when they face off against either North Carolina and Middle Tennessee State in doubles and Rice in singles play.
During the Fall Invite, Virginia will try to claim qualifying spots for ITA National Indoors, which will be held in Flushing, N.Y. from Nov. 12 to 15.
—compiled by Grayson Kemper
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