# 2023 Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer team

The 2023 Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer team represented the University of Virginia during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Cavaliers were led by head coach Steve Swanson, in his twenty-fourth season. They played home games at Klöckner Stadium. This was the team's 38th season playing organized women's college soccer and their 36th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cavaliers played only three Power 5 opponents in their non-conference season and finished 1–0–2 against those opponents. They began the season ranked number 5, but finished the non-conference season ranked number 18 after the draws against Michigan and Iowa. The Cavaliers finished non-conference with a 5–0–2 record. ACC play started with a draw against Louisville. That was followed by two losses, two more draws, and a loss. However, the Cavaliers did play three ranked teams over that stretch. After a September 24 loss to Wake Forest, they dropped out of the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Cavaliers wouldn't return to the rankings for the rest of the season despite winning three of their last four games.
The Cavaliers finished the season 8–3–6 overall and 3–3–4 in ACC play to finish in seventh place. They did not qualify for the ACC Tournament and were not invited to the NCAA Tournament. This was the first time the team did not qualify for the ACC tournament since its inception. It was also their first time not making the NCAA tournament since 1993, breaking a streak of twenty-nine straight tournaments. Their eight total wins were tied for the lowest in program history with their 1986 campaign and their three conference wins were their lowest since 2003.

## Previous season

The Cavaliers finished 16–4–3 overall and 6–2–2 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the fourth-seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted Duke in the First Round and lost 2–1. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they were the third-seed in the UCLA Bracket. They defeated Fairleigh Dickinson in the First Round, Xavier in the Second Round, two-seed Penn State in the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champions UCLA in the Quarterfinals to end their season.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Michaela Moran | 1 | GK | 5'8" | Graduate Student | Greeley, Colorado | Graduated |
| Jansen Eichenlaub | 6 | FW/MF | 5'5" | Senior | Bloomfield Hills, Michigan | Graduated |
| Alexa Spaanstra | 7 | FW | 5'5" | Graduate Student | Brighton, Michigan | Graduated; drafted 10th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft |
| Sarah Clark | 8 | DF | 5'6" | Graduate Student | Brighton, Michigan | Graduated |
| Claire Constant | 12 | DF | 5'7" | Graduate Student | Alexandria, Virginia | Graduated |
| Rebecca Jarrett | 13 | FW | 5'6" | Graduate Student | Washington Township, New Jersey | Graduated |
| Haley Hopkins | 17 | FW | 5'10" | Graduate Student | Newport Beach, California | Graduated; drafted 11th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft |
| Charlotte McClure | 24 | MF | 5'5" | Sophomore | Ridgeland, South Carolina | Transferred to Florida |
| Maggie Fralin | 27 | MF | 5'5" | Junior | Richmond, Virginia | Transferred to Maryland |
| Grace Santos | 28 | MF | 5'7" | Junior | Charlottesville, Virginia | — |
| Ally Reynolds | 33 | GK | 5'7" | Sophomore | Los Angeles, California | — |

### Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kathryn Kelly | 24 | DF | 5'8" | Sophomore | Belmont, California | UCLA |

### Recruiting class

Source:
| Name | Hometown | Club |
| Ella Carter MF | Leesburg, Virginia | TSJ FC Virginia |
| Aniyah Collier DF | Loganville, Georgia | GSA (ECNL U16) |
| Yuna McCormack MF | Mill Valley, California | FC Bay Area |
| Alexandra Ross FW | Atlanta, Georgia | Concorde Fire SC |
| Victoria Safradin GK | Eastlake, Ohio | Internationals SC (OH) |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of November 27, 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | GK | USA | Cayla White |
| 1 | GK | USA | Victoria Safradin |
| 2 | MF | USA | Peyton Goldthwaite |
| 3 | MF | USA | Alexis Theoret |
| 4 | DF | USA | Kiki Maki |
| 5 | MF | USA | Laughlin Ryan |
| 6 | FW | USA | Degen Miller |
| 7 | MF | USA | Yuna McCormack |
| 8 | FW | USA | Allie Ross |
| 9 | FW | USA | Meredith McDermott |
| 10 | FW | USA | Maggie Cagle |
| 11 | MF | USA | Lacey McCormack |
| 12 | DF | USA | Aniyah Collier |
| 13 | DF | USA | Helen Symbas |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | USA | Emma Dawson |
| 15 | FW | USA | Brianna Jablonowski |
| 16 | MF | USA | Ella Carter |
| 17 | DF | USA | Tatum Galvin |
| 18 | FW | USA | Sarah Brunner |
| 19 | MF | USA | Jill Flammia |
| 20 | DF | USA | Talia Staude |
| 21 | MF | USA | Chloe Japic |
| 22 | MF | USA | Lia Godfrey |
| 23 | DF | USA | Laney Rouse |
| 24 | DF | USA | Kathryn Kelly |
| 25 | DF | USA | Samar Guidry |
| 26 | FW | USA | Maya Carter |
| 29 | GK | USA | Camryn Miller |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic Director | Carla Williams |
| Head Coach | Steve Swanson |
| Associate head coach | Ron Raab |
| Assistant Coach | Sam Raper |
| Assistant Coach | Lizzy Sieracki |
| Director of Operations | Eilidh Thomson |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 8* 12:00 p.m. | No. 5 | vs. No. 3 Notre Dame | L 1–3 | – | Central Michigan Soccer Complex Maple City, MI |
| August 13* 12:00 p.m. | No. 5 | at Ohio State | None Reported | – | Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Columbus, OH |
| Non-conference Regular season ||||||
| August 17* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | Nevada | W 5–0 | 1–0–0 | Klöckner Stadium (1,199) Charlottesville, VA |
| August 20* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | Radford | W 5–0 | 2–0–0 | Klöckner Stadium (1,390) Charlottesville, VA |
| August 24* 8:00 p.m.15, ACCNX | No. 5 | Michigan | T 0–0 | 2–0–1 | Klöckner Stadium (1,684) Charlottesville, VA |
| August 27* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 5 | at George Mason | W 4–0 | 3–0–1 | George Mason Stadium (928) Fairfax, VA |
| August 31* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 12 | West Virginia | W 2–1 | 4–0–1 | Klöckner Stadium (1,497) Charlottesville, VA |
| September 3* 3:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 12 | VCU | W 4–1 | 5–0–1 | Klöckner Stadium (1,172) Charlottesville, VA |
| September 7* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 18 | Iowa | T 0–0 | 5–0–2 | Klöckner Stadium (1,345) Charlottesville, VA |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 16 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 20 | at Louisville | T 1–1 | 5–0–3 (0–0–1) | Lynn Stadium (221) Louisville, KY |
| September 21 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 22 | No. 1 North Carolina | L 0–1 | 5–1–3 (0–1–1) | Klöckner Stadium (2,674) Charlottesville, VA |
| September 24 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 22 | at Wake Forest | L 0–2 | 5–2–3 (0–2–1) | Spry Stadium (710) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 1 12:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 17 Duke | T 1–1 | 5–2–4 (0–2–2) | Klöckner Stadium (1,817) Charlottesville, VA |
| October 5 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at No. 9 Clemson | T 1–1 | 5–2–5 (0–2–3) | Riggs Field (583) Clemson, SC |
| October 8 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | at NC State | L 1–2 | 5–3–5 (0–3–3) | Dail Soccer Field (252) Raleigh, NC |
| October 15 1:30 p.m., ACCN | | Virginia Tech Rivalry | W 3–0 | 6–3–5 (1–3–3) | Klöckner Stadium (2,184) Charlottesville, VA |
| October 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Miami (FL) | W 1–0 | 7–3–5 (2–3–3) | Klöckner Stadium (1,419) Charlottesville, VA |
| October 22 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Boston College | T 1–1 | 7–3–6 (2–3–4) | Klöckner Stadium (1,415) Charlottesville, VA |
| October 26 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Syracuse | W 4–0 | 8–3–6 (3–3–4) | SU Soccer Stadium (102) Syracuse, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Maggie Cagle | Pre-season All-ACC Team | August 10 |
| Lia Godfrey | Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist | August 17 |
| Meredith McDermott | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | September 5 |
| Maggie Cagle | All-ACC Second Team | November 1 |
| Yuna McCormack | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 1 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | 5 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 20 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

## 2024 NWSL Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Natalia Staude | North Carolina Courage | 2 | 24 | DF |
Source: