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Irish Kickoff Three-Game Roadtrip with No. 1 Virginia

NOTRE DAME, Indiana – As the regular season is winding down, conference play is heating up and the Notre Dame women’s soccer team is off to face its toughest test of the season. The Irish are off on the road to take on the No. 1 team in country this weekend as they face Virginia Sunday afternoon. It is the first trip to Charlottesville for the Irish since 2015 when they knocked off the top-ranked Cavaliers 2-1 in 2OT. 

Know the Opponent: Virginia Cavaliers

  • The Irish square off with Virginia for the eighth time in program history when they travel to Charlottesville for Sunday’s matchup.
  • Virginia leads the series history 5-1-1 but only hold a 2-1 edge in games played in Charlottesville.
  • The last time Notre Dame visited the Cavaliers they were also the No. 1 team in the country and Notre Dame came out on top in double overtime, 2-1, on Sept. 24, 2015. Anna Maria Gilbertson began the scoring for Notre Dame in the 12th minute with the assist coming from then freshman Sabrina Flores. The Cavaliers tied the match in the 85th minute to send it into extra time. In the 104th minute, it was Gilbertson who ended the game for the Irish. She fired a curving shot from just inside the box for the game-winner.
  • The Cavaliers come into Sunday’s matchup ranked No. 1 in the country and are undefeated so far this season.
  • Virginia is 11-0-3 on the year, 3-0-3 in ACC play and are coming off a 1-0 double overtime win over No. 5 Florida State last Sunday in Tallahassee.

Irish Facts and Figures

  • The Irish are slated to face their fourth top-10 opponent this season when they take on No. 1 Virginia this weekend. This will be the fourth of a potential five top-10 opponents that Irish will face this season will all games coming on the road.
  • The Irish are in search of their first road win over a top-10 team since their last meeting in Charlottesville on Sept. 24, 2015 when they toppled No. Virginia.
  • The last time Notre Dame defeated a top-10 team was later in 2015 when they knocked off No. 5 Virginia Tech 3-0 on Oct. 30 at home on senior night.
  • Notre Dame has notched nine shutouts in 14 games this season and are outscoring opponents 26-10 this season.
  • Sammi Fisher leads the team with 15 points and is tied with Eva Hurm for the team lead in goals with five.
  • Brooke Littman leads the squad with six shutouts in eight games this season. She has only allowed four goals in 740:00 minutes of game time, good for a 0.49 goals against average.
  • Littman currently ranks second in the ACC in shutouts (6) and third in the conference in goals against average (0.49).
  • 10 different players have scored so far this season after only eight different players scored during the entire 2018 campaign.
  • The Irish have four players that have tallied a brace so far this season. Eva Hurm and Luisa Delgado scored twice against Northwestern and Autumn Smithers scored both goals against Western Michigan. Kiki Van Zanten was the latest Irish to tally a brace in the win over Pitt.

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