For the first time since 2022, Virginia women’s soccer will be a one seed in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championships. The Cavaliers are set to host the champions of the Big South, High Point (5-9-5), in the first round.
The Cavaliers are one of three ACC teams to earn a one seed and one of nine to make the field of 64. They managed an impressive 12-3-4 record while playing in the best conference in the country. In all, Virginia played 11 of its 19 games against teams that are seeded in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
With games in each of the first four rounds played on campuses, the top-seeded Cavaliers could play as many as four more games at Klöckner Stadium, where they went 8-1-1 this season. A win over High Point will see UVA host the winner of eight-seed Penn State versus Army. Two-seed Duke, three-seed Kansas, and four-seed Washington are the other top seeds in Virginia’s quadrant of the bracket.
Virginia began the year ranked at No. 15 and reached as high as No. 1 after defeating two consecutive top-10 opponents, then-No. 9 Penn State and No. 2 Duke in early September. While ranked No. 1, the Cavaliers fell 2-1 on the road against then-No. 3 Stanford.
The ‘Hoos only suffered one other loss during the regular season, a 3-2 defeat to then-No. 11 Florida State in Charlottesville. Virginia went on to avenge that loss in the ACC Tournament, defeating the Seminoles 6-5 in penalty kicks after both regulation and overtime ended with the teams even at 0-0.
UVA then lost to Stanford 3-2 in the ACC semifinals. The Cardinal went on to defeat Notre Dame in penalty kicks to win the ACC title. The Cavaliers could meet Stanford for a third time if both teams win their quadrant and advance to the College Cup in Kansas City.
The Cavaliers are in search of their first-ever national title in women’s soccer. Head coach Steve Swanson has led the ‘Hoos to eight quarterfinals, three semifinals, and one final, which came in 2014, since arriving at UVA in 2000.
