Women’s soccer: No. 1 Virginia hosts Rutgers in NCAA quarterfinals Friday

The top-ranked Virginia women’s soccer team hosts No. 9 Rutgers at 2 p.m. on Friday with a third consecutive berth in the College Cup on the line for the Cavaliers.

Tickets for the game are $9 for reserved seats, $7 for adult general admission and $5 for youth/UVA students/senior citizen general admission. Fans can order tickets for the tournament online at VirginiaSports.com and by phone through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 434-924-UVA1 (8821). Tickets are also available at the gate beginning one hour prior to the start of play.

Virginia (19-1-2), the top-seeded team in the region, advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal appearance with three straight home wins. The Cavaliers defeated Howard 7-1 in the opening game before picking up a pair of 2-0 victories over UNCW and No. 11 USC this past weekend. Rutgers (19-3-2), the two seed in the region, advanced with three consecutive shutouts of Fairleigh Dickinson, Hofstra and UConn.

The contest will mark the fourth straight season the two teams have played each other and is a rematch of a second round contest in the 2014 NCAA Tournament the Cavaliers won 3-0 at Klöckner Stadium.

One of the top offensive teams in the country, Virginia averages almost three goals per game and is paced by senior forward Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.) and junior midfielder Alexis Shaffer (Cary, N.C.). Doniak has 14 goals on the season with a team-leading 11 assists, while Shaffer also has 14 goals with eight assists.

The Cavaliers have scored 73 goals on the season with 15 different goal scorers and 18 different players who have notched an assist. Of those 15 goal scorers, 10 have scored three goals or more as the Virginia offense has been efficient at passing the ball around for scoring opportunities.

While scoring 73 goals, the Cavalier defense has been equally efficient in posting 14 shutout victories and allowing only 12 goals on the season. Anchoring the stout Virginia defense has been junior Morgan Stearns (San Antonio, Texas) in goal and seniors Kristen McNabb (Montville, N.J.) and Emily Sonnett (Marietta, Ga.) on the back line.