Top-Ranked Virginia Opens ACC Play At Wake Forest Friday

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Posted on Thursday, Sep. 19, 2019, 10:15 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 1 Virginia women’s soccer team (8-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) opens conference play on Friday night, hitting the road to take on Wake Forest (5-2-1, 0-0-0 ACC) in a 7 p.m. match at Spry Stadium.

The match will be streamed on ACCNX which streams live on the ESPN app. ACCNX is available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network. Fans can also follow the action through live stats linked at VirginiaSports.com or by following the program’s official Twitter account @UVAWomenSoccer.

QUICK KICKS

  • UVA moved up to the top spot in the United Soccer Coaches poll after a win at No. 8 Penn State Sunday.
  • It is the first time UVA has topped the polls since the Cavaliers took the top spot in the 2015 season.
  • Sydney Zandi has scored in back-to-back matches and two of her four career goals are game-winners.
  • Zandi’s goal at Penn State was the second fastest answering goal in UVA history – taking 26 seconds.
  • UVA has won eight consecutive matches, tying for sixth-longest winning streak in program history.
  • Virginia opens ACC play on the road for the third consecutive season with its match at Wake Forest.
  • This is the fourth time facing Wake Forest in an ACC opener – UVA is 3-0 vs. Wake in ACC openers.
  • Under head coach Steve Swanson, the Cavaliers are 15-3-1 in conference openers.
  • Virginia enters the weekend ranked top 5 nationally in goals per game (1st – 4.38), goals (2nd – 35), points (2nd – 95), points per game (2nd – 11.88) and assists (5th – 25).
  • Freshman Diana Ordonez leads the ACC in several offensive categories and ranks top 5 nationally in goals (2nd – 9), goals per game (2nd – 1.5), points per game (2nd – 3.3) and points (5th – 20).
  • Ordonez and Meghan McCool are the top two goal producers in the ACC heading into conference play
  • McCool ranks top 5 in the ACC in goals (T2 – 7), goals per game (T2 – 0.88), points (T3 – 14) and points per game (T5 – 1.75).
  • Alexa Spaanstra continues to lead the nation in assists, tying for first with seven this season.

A LOOK AT WAKE FOREST

  • Wake Forest enters the weekend with a 5-2-1 record on the season.
  • The Demon Deacons are coming off a pair of losses to UNC and USF.
  • Wake Forest has a 2-1 win over No. 19 Santa Clara at home on the resume.
  • Hulda Arnarsdottir leads Wake in scoring with four goals and nine points.
  • Hayley Younginer is the leading distributor with three assists to date.
  • Wake has scored 14 goals this season, while allowing only eight goals.

THE SERIES WITH THE DEMON DEACONS

  • UVA leads the all-time series 19-7-3 and 8-3-2 in road matches vs. Wake.
  • The Cavaliers have won six straight matches in the series back to 2012.
  • Wake Forest last won in the 2012 season with a 2-1 victory at Klöckner.
  • Virginia has outscored Wake Forest 17-2 in the last six meetings.
  • The series dates back to 1994, a 9-0 victory at home for the Cavaliers.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST WAKE FOREST

  • Virginia picked up a 5-1 win over Wake Forest at Klöckner Stadium last year.
  • Meghan McCool had two goals, while Alexa Spaanstra had a goal and an assist, and Sydney Zandi tallied two assists in the win.
  • Hulda Arnarsdottir scored for Wake with an assist from Oliwia Wos.
  • In all, seven players back with the Hoos this season had a role in the scoring last season against Wake Forest.

NEXT WEEK FOR THE CAVALIERS

  • Virginia returns home to play two ACC matches at Klöckner Stadium.
  • The Hoos host No. 18 Virginia Tech in a 5 p.m. match on Thursday.
  • The match with Virginia Tech will count in the Commonwealth Clash.
  • Virginia will then host No. 8 Duke at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.