Virginia women’s soccer is a proud program, one that has seen great success in the arduous ACC. But even after routinely taking residence in the NCAA Tournament bracket, one fact looms large — this program has never won a national championship.
Fifth-year midfielder Lia Godfrey knows that all too well. And in her final year on the field, it is time for those postseason woes to disappear.
Eight games into the 2024 season, the Cavaliers ascended the national rankings to be the No. 2 team in the country. But by the season’s end, Virginia was unranked, and the Cavaliers bowed out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Coach Steve Swanson’s bunch looked unstoppable, only to experience the bitter feeling of postseason heartbreak.
Godfrey has felt that feeling time and time again.
In her rookie season — played in the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19 — Virginia fell to Florida State via penalty kick shootout in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals. It was certainly a crushing loss, but Godfrey thought she would return to the College Cup. After all, she was named a Second Team All-American in her true freshman season, and had her sights on that national championship.
“We didn't want to have that feeling [of losing in the postseason] again,” Godfrey said.
But Virginia has not returned to the College Cup since Godfrey’s rookie campaign.
Even though she also earned All-American honors in the fall of 2021 and 2022, the team was unable to break through and capture the ultimate prize. Instead, there was one postseason crash after another.
In the fall of 2021, it was a 1-0 Sweet Sixteen loss to BYU. In 2022, a 2-1 Quarterfinal loss to UCLA in overtime. Worse yet, in 2023, Virginia did not even qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and Godfrey missed the entire season due to a brutal knee injury.
“It was heartbreaking, devastating,” Godfrey said. “Anyone who's had a season-ending injury knows that, but it's how you bounce back and how you come back from that.”
So, what now?
This year, Godfrey is one of the elder statesmen on a very young Cavalier unit where one in every three players are freshmen. Meanwhile, Godfrey is officially listed as a fifth-year because she was able to redshirt her 2023 injury season, and the 2021 spring season did not count as a full year of eligibility because of the pandemic. However, this is her sixth year with the program, and she will have to help get them ready to battle a bevy of ranked opponents.
“There's definitely a lot of [freshmen], and I'm noticing, because there's a few of us that are sixth years, that there is an age gap,” Godfrey said. “They are younger, that's not going to change. But bonding with them has been fun. They've been fitting in really well.”
Addison Halpern, a top-five recruit in the freshman class, said that Godfrey and other upperclassmen leaders have been incredibly helpful in her adjustment to NCAA soccer.
“I think [sixth year players] offer a lot of insight that a lot of other teams don't have just because of how much experience they have,” Halpern said. “And they're just awesome people, as well as just really good leaders on the field and off the field.”
That large group of newcomers will be relied upon early and often as Virginia, ranked No. 15, has an insanely difficult schedule. On the docket are No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Duke, No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Penn State and No. 14 Virginia Tech. And while the Cavaliers do not face No. 1 North Carolina or No. 2 Notre Dame in the regular season, one of those juggernauts will likely stand in the way of an ACC Tournament title.
2025 will be a litmus test for Swanson’s program as a whole. But for Godfrey, 2025 marks the final chapter of her Virginia career — and the final chance to avenge years of postseason blues.
“This year, we just need to play the way we know how to play,” Godfrey said. “Play smart, play fast, stick to our principles. We know we have it in us. We know we know we can beat these teams, and we know we can succeed in the ACC.”
The Cavaliers kicked off the 2025 season with a 1-0 win Thursday at West Virginia, and Godfrey tallied her 30th career assist on the game’s lone goal. Ahead of the home opener this Thursday versus Xavier, Godfrey offered a message to the fans — pack the stands for the start of another year of chasing the biggest prize in NCAA soccer.
“We hope to see you at Klöckner, and we hope we can make this a special season for everyone,” Godfrey said.
That special season, of course, can end only one way — with a win.
“As a team, we have high standards,” Godfrey said. “We want to win an ACC championship, we want to win the ACC regular season and we want to win an NCAA championship. That's the ultimate goal.”
Peter Kratz contributed reporting.
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