UVA Soccer | Early goal holds up as #8 ‘Hoos knock off #9 Penn State, 1-0

Maggie Cagle scored in the second minute, and then, it was ball control and defense for the eighth-ranked UVA Soccer team, which knocked off #9 Penn State, 1-0, Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium.

The Cavaliers (5-0-1) took the early lead with a strike in the opening minutes of play. Less than 90 seconds into the game, Carrie Helfrich got free down the left side and served a ball into the box. Addison Halpern tapped it on to Cagle, who buried the shot past the left post.

Victoria Safradin posted her 13th career shutout and fifth of the 2025 season.

“It was a good effort all around,” UVA coach Steve Swanson said. “We were better in every phase, and that was something we wanted to improve on from our last game against Georgetown. We were much better in the attack, connected our passes and got in the attacking third much more, and were dangerous. Defensively, we won a lot of first and second balls, we competed hard and our individual defending was better. Probably the only disappointing thing was we didn’t put enough balls on frame, but as far as creating those and putting pressure on them, and their goalkeeper who played well tonight, I thought we did a good job of that.”

Virginia continues to play at home next week with a contest against #3 Duke on Thursday (Sept. 11) and then a showdown with VCU on Sunday (Sept. 14).