After a 6-1-1 start to the season, one of the highest-ranked teams in the ACC awaits Notre Dame women’s soccer this weekend. Virginia (8-1-0, 1-1-0 ACC) will host the Irish in a battle of ranked foes on Saturday evening in Charlottesville. As of right now, the match stands as Notre Dame’s toughest remaining road game while doubling as Virginia’s most challenging home date left on the table.
Notre Dame well-rested after wild ACC opener
The Irish have plenty of time between games during the early part of their ACC schedule. They’ll enter the Virginia match with eight full days of rest since beginning conference play with a chaotic match at Boston College last Thursday.
In Chestnut Hill, Notre Dame’s six-match shutout streak came crashing down during the first half, as Boston College scored twice in 61 seconds. Down 2-0, the Irish subbed in freshman forward Ellie Hodsden, who had returned from injury to make her collegiate debut just four days earlier against Marquette. Sure enough, Hodsden provided yet another freshman spark, scoring in both the 37th and 88th minute to complete a Notre Dame comeback. Between those goals, assistant coach Martin Rennie picked up a red card in the 86th minute when a potential penalty-kick call did not go in Notre Dame’s favor. In the end, the Irish walked away with a share of the points despite outshooting Boston College by a 27-8 margin.
With Hodsen’s two goals last Thursday, Notre Dame now has 25 goals scored this season. An astounding 20 of them belong to freshmen. Furthermore, each of the four Irish players with three goals or more this year are first-years.
Virginia in search of a bounce-back game
The Cavaliers marched out to a fabulous start to the season, winning each of their first eight matches. Along the way, they visited Penn State, a team ranked third in the nation at the time, and scored a 2-1 win. They shut out every other non-conference opponent on their schedule. After defeating Miami in its ACC opener last Thursday, Virginia had allowed only two goals in eight games, mirroring Notre Dame’s defensive start.
However, Virginia’s defense, like Notre Dame’s, gave up some ground last time out. The Cavaliers endured a rough Sunday at home against Wake Forest, losing 3-0 on a trio of first-half goals. Victoria Safradin, who had been rolling in her first full season as Virginia’s starting goalkeeper, truly struggled for the first time, making only one save against the three goals allowed. Maggie Cagle and Allie Ross, the top two Cavalier scorers and shooters, never got going, either. The duo combined to take just one shot against Wake Forest.
Looking ahead, Virginia will need more output from Lia Godfrey, who joined Cagle on the Preseason All-ACC Team. During the first three years of her Cavalier career, Godfrey started 65 games and posted 56 points. In each of those seasons, she landed on a United Soccer Coaches All-America team. However, she spent all of last season on the shelf with an injury and has not found her previous self since returning in the 2024 season opener. Virginia eased her back into the mix, playing her off the bench in the first five games before starting her in each of the last four. Still, she has not registered a point while going without a shot in each of Virginia’s first two ACC contests.
Historically, Notre Dame has struggled with Virginia, going 2-7-1 against the Cavaliers. The Irish have never won in regulation in Charlottesville, owning only an overtime victory from 2015. Notre Dame did, however, knock off Virginia in the two schools’ last meeting, winning 1-0 in South Bend on a late goal in September 2022. Last season, the Cavaliers finished seventh in the ACC — five spots behind Notre Dame.
First touch between Notre Dame and Virginia is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville.
