Olympic Sports Roundup: Postseason Updates, More

Virginia’s women’s soccer team is two wins away from playing for its third conference championship in school history, as the third-seeded ‘Hoos will face No. 7 seed Florida State in the ACC Championship semifinals on Friday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

UVa (15-3-0) eliminated No. 6 Louisville, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium in the quarterfinal round, while the Seminoles (13-4-2), also ranked No. 7 in the country, upset No. 2 seed Duke to advance to the semifinals.

After Louisville got on the board first in the 10th minute Sunday, freshman Alexa Spaanstra scored the team’s first goal four minutes later and then assisted junior Meghan McCool for the game-winning goal in the 71st minute.

It was McCool’s team-leading eighth goal of 2018 and her second game-winner against the Cardinals this season. Spaanstra leads the Cavaliers with 20 points (7 goals, 6 assists) on the year.

“It was a great result for us,” said Virginia coach Steve Swanson after the win. “The work rate was good and the effort was there. The big thing for us was to try to link up the team and play some soccer and advance the ball. I don’t think we were as patient as we needed to be in the first half, but once we started to establish a rhythm we penetrated more and got good looks.

“It was great to come back from being a goal down. Give all the team credit today. The depth really showed today. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of players and we will need that moving forward.”

Friday’s game against FSU will kick off at either 5:30 or 8 p.m., and can be live streamed through ACC Network Extra, via the ESPN app.

Swanson wrapped up the regular season in style last Thursday, as he became just the 11th Division I coach to record 400 career wins when the Cavaliers defeated N.C. State, 2-1.

Should the ‘Hoos win Friday, they would then play for the ACC Championship in Cary at 12 Noon Sunday against either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 5 Clemson on ESPNU. Virginia captured the ACC crown in 2004 and 2012.

UVa, ranked No. 11 nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, is a lock for the NCAA Tournament, as Swanson and the Cavaliers will be gunning for a 14th straight trip to the Round of 16. The Division I field of 64 will be revealed next Monday, Nov. 5.

MEN’S SOCCER

The seventh-ranked UVa men’s team (9-2-3) landed the 6-seed in the upcoming 12-team ACC Championship, and will host No. 11 seed Pitt (7-10-0) Wednesday in the opening round at Klöckner at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

A win against the Panthers would move the ‘Hoos into a quarterfinal matchup at No. 3 Duke on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The semifinal round is Wednesday, Nov. 7, with the championship game to be played at Noon Sunday, Nov. 11 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on ESPNU.

Virginia will be looking to advance to the ACC championship game for the 20th time in the history of the program. The ‘Hoos have won 15 of those conference titles, but haven’t hoisted the trophy since 2009.

The team’s regular-season finale at North Carolina was canceled due to the threat of inclement weather last Friday.

In a special top-10 poll released Sunday by the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee, Virginia was ranked No. 4, joining six other ACC schools.

The DI Selection Show follows the ACC Championship on Monday, Nov. 12.

FIELD HOCKEY

The Cavalier field hockey team heads into the postseason on a 3-game win streak, which included an upset of second-ranked Maryland at Turf Field on Senior Day last Sunday followed by a rain-soaked, double-overtime victory at William & Mary Friday.

Senior Greta Ell put through the game winner 36 ticks into the second extra period Friday on a quick stickback after junior Erin Shanahan, who scored earlier in the game, hit the post. It was Ell’s first multi-goal performance of the year.

“It was a hard-fought game between two opponents that both went after it tonight in really adverse conditions…,” Virginia coach Michele Madison said. “Our team continues to display resilience under pressure conditions.”

No. 5 seed UVa (8-8) will now face No. 4 Boston College Thursday in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Chapel Hill at 11 a.m.

That game, along with the rest of the tournament, will be broadcast on the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks and will also be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

If the Cavaliers win Thursday, it would set up a meeting with the No. 1 seed, North Carolina, in Friday’s semifinal round at Noon. The tournament championship will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.

For the second straight week, Virginia senior goalkeeper Carrera Lucas was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. She was also tabbed the Longstreth/NFHCA national Co-Defensive Player of the Week last week, the first such recognition of her Cavalier career.

Freshman Greer Gill joined Lucas the week before, as she earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 23 after scoring a pair of goals — including the decisive tally — in the win over Maryland.

CROSS COUNTRY

The women’s and men’s cross country teams competed at the ACC Championships this past Friday in Chestnut Hill, Mass., with the 14th-ranked men taking fourth place overall and the women finishing ninth.

“It’s time to refocus and turn our attention towards regionals and nationals where we’ll expect to perform much better,” said men’s coach Jason Dunn.

Grad student Brent Demarest placed fourth individually with a time of 23:52.9 to lead the men’s team, while freshman Abbey Green led the women with a time of 20:42.4, good for ninth place individually.

Demarest, Ari Klau and Randy Neish each earned All-ACC honors on the men’s side, while Green did so for the women’s team.

“I do not feel as though we raced up to our potential,” women’s coach Megan LaVoie admitted. “Our youth and inexperience really showed during the race. We have two weeks before our regional meet so we need to just work hard over the next week or so.”

Both teams will head down to Rock Hill, S.C., for the NCAA Southeast Regionals on Friday, Nov. 9.

VOLLEYBALL

The UVa volleyball team is in the midst of a four-match road swing, which began over the weekend with mixed results. The ‘Hoos (7-15, 3-9 ACC) got swept by Duke Friday, but then notched a sweep of their own at Wake Forest Sunday.

In the win against the Demon Deacons, Virginia recorded the second-most blocks in a match that went three sets in school history with 13 (since the beginning of rally scoring 17 years ago), led individually by 10 from Milla Ciprien, also second-most for a three-setter.

UVa travels to Clemson Friday and then Georgia Tech Sunday as the ACC slate winds down.

WOMEN’S GOLF

The Cavaliers are gearing up for the final event of the fall season, the Battle at the Beach this weekend in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.

Virginia, which is ranked No. 2 in the country by GolfStat.com, finished fourth at The Landfall Tradition tournament last weekend in Wilmington, N.C. Sophomore Beth Lillie finished in 11th place individually to pace the team.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

The school’s swimming and diving teams split a dual meet with Auburn at the Aquatic and Fitness Center Friday, with the men’s team winning 200-129 and the women’s team dropping a tough one to the Tigers, 196-138.

“I have said it often, and will continue to say it, the goal is to get better week to week and both our men and women were better this week than we were last week,” said coach Todd DeSorbo. “We are on the right track.”

The Cavaliers will travel to Louisville this weekend to conclude the fall dual-meet schedule.

BASEBALL

The Orange and Blue World Series comes to a close Thursday at 3:15 at Disharoon Park, which will be the last chance to catch the Wahoos in action until 2019.

Game 6 was originally rescheduled for this past Sunday, but was moved to Thursday.

The Blue squad has won the last three games to take a 4-1 lead, wrapping up the series victory in Game 5 Friday, 3-2.

SOFTBALL

The Virginia softball team is also concluding its fall season over the coming days with its own Orange and Blue Series at The Park.

Game 1 of the intrasquad series is set for Thursday at 4 p.m., with Game 2 to follow Friday at 2:45, and the third and final contest is scheduled for next Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m.

All games are free to the public.

WRESTLING

The UVa wrestling team starts its season Saturday with the Cavalier Duals. The team will tangle with Indiana and Midlands University, beginning at Noon, and head coach Steve Garland is excited to get things rolling.

“We have once again put together an extremely tough schedule for our team,” said Garland. “Whether by the dual meets we have scattered throughout the season or the tournaments we compete in, our guys are going to get the opportunity to face elite competition throughout the course of the entire year.”

TENNIS

Virginia freshman Ryan Goetz was the singles runner-up at last weekend’s ITA Atlantic Regional in Blacksburg, falling 6-3, 6-4 to Aziz Kijamehovic of Old Dominion in the finals.

Goetz advances to next month’s Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Surprise, Az., joining the women’s team doubles duo of Meghan Kelley and Sofia Munera, who captured the Atlantic Regional title in Lynchburg earlier in October.

The UVa women’s team will compete in the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill this weekend, while the men play at the William & Mary Invitational in Williamsburg Friday through Sunday.

In addition, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, JC Aragone and Collin Altamirano are among the former Wahoos competing at the USTA Men’s Pro Challenger, being held all this week at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.