Women’s soccer: UVA hosts Monmouth Friday in NCAA Tournament First-Round

The UVA women’s soccer team (15-4-0) is a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host Monmouth (16-3-1) in a first-round matchup at Klöckner Stadium at 7 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 9), the NCAA announced with the release of the tournament bracket on Monday.

Monmouth received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the MACC Tournament with a 7-1 victory over Sienna on Sunday (Nov. 4). Virginia is an at-large selection after finishing third in the ACC this season and advancing to the semifinals of the ACC Championships.

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) beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 6). Tickets purchased in advance will be $8 for reserved seating and $5 for general admission. Season ticket holders from the regular season will have the chance to purchase the same seats held during the regular season for a limited time before those seats will be released to the public.

Tickets are also available at the gate beginning one hour prior to the start of play. Tickets purchased at the gate are $10 for reserved seats, $8 for general admission and $5 for students of participating schools with valid student ID.

Free parking will be available on a first come, first served basis in the UHall and McCue Parking lots. Additional free public parking will be available in the Emmet/Ivy Garage. Due to women’s basketball at the same time on Friday night, parking at the JPJ surface lot and garage will be reserved for women’s basketball permit holders.

This season marks the 21st time in the past 25 years the Cavaliers have hosted NCAA Tournament play at Klöckner Stadium. Overall, Virginia has a 33-12-4 record in home NCAA Tournament games.

Virginia is making its 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and its 31st overall. Only North Carolina has a longer active streaks of tournament appearances. Last season, Virginia advanced to the Round of 16 for the 13th consecutive season before seeing its NCAA Tournament run come to an end to No. 2 seed, and NCAA runner-up, UCLA.

The Cavaliers have five All-ACC selections this season with Phoebe McClernon (West Chester, Pa.) earning second-team honors, Alexa Spaanstra (Brighton, Mich.) and Taryn Torres (Frisco, Texas) earning third-team honors, and Spaanstra and Rebecca Jarrett (Washington Township, N.J.) earning All-Freshman honors.

Virginia is one of the top scoring offenses in the nation, tied for fifth nationally by averaging 2.58 goals per game and tied for sixth in total goals (49). The Cavaliers are also ranked in the top five nationally in assists (48), assists per game (2.53), total points (146) and points per game (7.46).

This season, two of the Cavaliers four losses have come to ACC champion Florida State with a third coming at the hands of ACC semifinalist Clemson. Among its significant wins, Virginia went on the road and picked up wins at No. 11 Penn State and No. 12 Duke. The Cavaliers played 10 matches against teams ranked in the top 50 of the RPI with a 6-4 record in those games.

Monmouth entered the MAAC Tournament as the top-seeded team and claimed the tournament title with a win over the third-seeded Siena Saints. The Hawks won the MAAC for the third consecutive season and have won 11 consecutive matches overall.

The Hawks are led by Alli DeLuca and Madie Gibson with 24 points each this season. DeLuca has a team-leading nine goals and has added six assists, while Gibson has a team-leading eight assists along with her eight goals scored. Monmouth also locked up the major awards for the MAAC with Gibson named Offensive Player of the Year, Jessica Johnson named Defensive Player of the Year and Jill Conklin named Rookie of the Year. Monmouth had seven All-MAAC First Team selections this season while going 9-1 in conference play and amassing 49 goals on the season.

Monmouth and Virginia have two opponents in common from this season in NC State and Bucknell. The Hawks fell to NC State 1-0 in double overtime and defeated Bucknell 1-0. The Cavaliers defeated NC State 2-1 and also posted a 1-0 victory over Bucknell.