#2 UVA women’s soccer hosts Tennessee on Friday

The second-ranked UVA women’s soccer team opens a five-game homestand Friday night as it hosts Tennessee on the opening day of the 2014 Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. Game time is 5:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast online by NSCAAtv.com.

Friday’s game is the middle game of a tripleheader of soccer at Klöckner Stadium. Duke plays Hofstra at 3 p.m. in the first game of the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. The day concludes with the Cavalier men’s soccer team hosting Virginia Tech in its ACC opener at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth, seniors and faculty/staff; one ticket is good for admission into all three matches of the tripleheader. Group ticket orders of 20 or more tickets are $4.

Virginia (5-0-0) moved up to No. 2 this week in all three polls (Soccer America, NSCAA, Top Drawer Soccer) and is one of 22 remaining unbeaten/untied teams in Division I. The Cavaliers are coming off a pair of road wins last week, 3-0 at Alabama and 3-1 at Samford. Virginia ranks 11th nationally in offense at 3.60 goals per game and is the only team in the country to score at least three goals in every game this season. The Cavaliers have had nine different goal scorers over the first five games, led by junior Brittany Ratcliffe (Williamstown, N.J.), who has four goals.

The Lady Vols (3-2-0) are on a two-game win streak after a 2-0 win at Western Kentucky and a 1-0 home win over Tulsa last week. Tennessee is led by New Zealand international Hannah Wilkinson, who has scored three goals this season.

Friday’s game is the sixth all-time meeting between the schools, with Virginia holding a 3-2-0 edge in the series. The teams haven’t met since 2006 when the Lady Vols won 1-0 in overtime in Knoxville. The last meeting in Charlottesville was in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, a 3-0 Cavalier victory.

The Virginia Nike Soccer Classic is in its 27th year and the Cavaliers have won the title 16 times, including six of the past seven years. The tournament concludes Sunday with a pair of matches. Tennessee plays Richmond at noon prior to Virginia playing Hofstra at 2:30 p.m.