Earlier this fall, I highlighted the relative struggles of many of Virginia’s fall sports, and the second half of the season has not done much to change that picture. Women’s soccer is the clear exception.
As the No. 5 seed in the ACC tournament, Steve Swanson’s team went to Tallahassee on Sunday and shut out fourth-seeded Florida State, the defending national champions, 3-0.
On Thursday in Cary, the Cavaliers beat top-seeded Notre Dame, the regular-season ACC champion, 1-0. Now Virginia will face
No. 2 seed North Carolina for the ACC title on Sunday at noon (ESPNU) at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.
It is Virginia’s first ACC final since 2021 and its ninth overall, and a win would give the program its first conference tournament title since 2012.
How Virginia got here
For most of the fall, this did not look like a team that would be playing for a title in November. Virginia was coming off a 2025 season in which it earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament before falling to Washington on penalties in the round of 16. The Hoos then lost their two leading scorers to professional contracts. Lia Godfrey, the 2025 ACC Midfielder of the Year, signed with the NWSL’s San Diego Wave, and forward Maggie Cagle signed in Sweden. The pair combined for 22 goals last season.
Virginia opened the season ranked No. 11 and won its first four games. However, September was a different story. The Hoos drew with No. 10 Tennessee and at Georgetown, lost 1-0 at No. 3 Wake Forest after a late equalizer was ruled offside on video review, and lost 3-1 at home to UNC. A 1-0 loss at Notre Dame on Oct. 8 dropped Virginia to 2-3 in conference play. With only six teams qualifying for the ACC tournament, the Hoos were on the outside looking in.
From there, Virginia did not lose again in the regular season. The Hoos won 5-1 at SMU and 1-0 at Virginia Tech, drew with Clemson, beat No. 12 Louisville 3-0 and drew 0-0 at Duke to finish 5-3-2 in the ACC and claim the fifth seed. Their national ranking dipped as low as No. 21 in late October, but the team was trending in the right direction. Counting the two tournament wins, Virginia is 11-3-4 and unbeaten in its last seven games.
Four Cavaliers were named All-ACC on Wednesday. Second-year forward Addison Halpern made the first team. Fourth-year goalkeeper Victoria Safradin, a second-team pick for the second straight year, and second-year midfielder/defender Pearl Cecil made the second team, and fourth-year midfielder Ella Carter made the third team.
The defense has not allowed a goal in over 400 minutes
Virginia is winning the way Swanson’s best teams usually have, with defense. The Hoos have posted four straight shutouts and have not allowed a goal in 406 minutes and three seconds, with clean sheets in five of their last six games. According to the ACC, Virginia is the first team since 2020 to reach the final from the first round without conceding a goal.
Safradin is a big reason why. She leads the ACC with nine shutouts and entered the semifinal with a 0.61 goals-against average, second in the league. Against Notre Dame, all five of her saves came in the second half as the Fighting Irish pushed for an equalizer. Notre Dame finished with seven shots, its fewest of the season.
Cecil and the back line deserve credit too. Through 17 games, Virginia had allowed only 10 goals, the fewest of any team in the ACC. Swanson switched to a three-back system this season, and the defense has looked better and better as the year has gone on.
Halpern carries the attack
Virginia does not create a lot of easy chances, which puts pressure on whoever finishes the ones it does get. That has been Halpern. She leads the team with 12 goals, adds five assists and has scored four times in her last five games. Her goal on Thursday came in the 38th minute, when she took advantage of a Notre Dame defensive mistake and finished it on her own.
She has had help. At Florida State, Allie Ross opened the scoring on a free kick and Gio Canali added two goals, her first multi-goal game of the season. Carter assisted on two of the three goals and now has four assists on game-winning goals this season.
Virginia is seeking redemption vs. UNC
North Carolina has already beaten Virginia once this season, 3-1 at Klöckner Stadium on Sept. 25, and the way that game played out is cause for concern.
The Tar Heels scored three times between the ninth and 12th minutes. Bella Devey scored off a turnover near midfield and again on a long ball over the top less than two minutes later, and Summer Denigan converted a penalty after a handball. Halpern scored a penalty of her own in the 57th minute, but the game had already been decided. Afterward, Swanson said playing a full 90 minutes was the team’s biggest challenge.
Devey is the biggest threat for UNC. The ACC Offensive Player of the Year is tied for the league lead with 17 goals, and she scored again on Thursday, getting behind the Duke defense in the 18th minute for the only goal of the semifinal. UNC is 16-2 with 11 shutouts, and freshman Cali O’Neill was named ACC Freshman of the Year. Virginia’s defense has shut out everyone it has faced over the last four games, but it still has to prove it has an answer for Devey.
History favors the Tar Heels, but they have struggled in recent finals
UNC has won 22 ACC tournament titles, the most in conference history, and is going for its 23rd. But the Tar Heels have lost their last three ACC finals (2020, 2022 and 2024), and their last title came in 2019 against Virginia.
The two programs have met in four previous finals (1990, 2004, 2005 and 2019), with UNC winning three. Virginia’s lone win came in 2004, the first of its two ACC tournament titles. The second came in 2012.
What is at stake
Virginia’s place in the NCAA tournament is safe. The Hoos were 12th in the RPI heading into the semifinals and have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, which comes with the territory in this conference. Three of last year’s four College Cup teams (Stanford, Duke and Florida State) came out of the ACC, and Florida State went on to win the national title. Sunday is about seeding and a trophy the program has not won in 14 years. A win over the No. 2 team in the country, on top of wins over Florida State and Notre Dame, would make a strong case for Virginia to be a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Virginia comes in as the underdog. UNC is ranked No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in RPI, won the first meeting comfortably and has the league’s most dangerous scorer. Still, the way the Hoos have played this week, they are capable of beating anyone. The question is whether they can replicate that success against such a prolific offense. If Virginia can settle into the game instead of getting blitzed like it did in September, it will have a real chance.
Soccer is not my usual area of expertise, so I will defer to those who follow the sport more closely. If I had to make a pick, I would go with something like a 1-0 North Carolina win. Either way, in a fall with few bright spots, this team has already given Virginia fans plenty to cheer about.
