Our pick for Campus Celebrity this week was a somewhat obvious choice as the varsity women’s soccer team finished their regular season with a perfect record, 19-0 overall and 13-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia women’s soccer is the first team in 10 years to have an undefeated season; the University of North Carolina women’s soccer team was the last to conquer this feat in 2003.
The #1 ‘Hoos defeated rival Virginia Tech on Thursday, November 1st with a final score of 2-0. After the game, the girls and their family, friends, and fans celebrated senior night. Annie Steinlage, a fourth-year transfer student from Michigan State, was one of the players honored on Thursday night. Steinlage made the game-winning goal over Florida State University on October 27, which ended the game at a score of 1-0 for the Cavaliers.
“I knew the program I was coming to was great, had great players and great coaches. But an undefeated season, obviously it’s the best you can hope for. So, yes, it’s been amazing,” Steinlage told Virginiasports.com writer Jeff White.
On Sunday, November 3rd, the Cavaliers defeated Maryland 6-1 in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal that took place at Klöckner Stadium. If you missed the game, watch highlights of the girls’ triumph over Maryland at Virginiasportstv.com, as well as highlights and features from the rest of the girls’ incredible season. The win over Maryland was the first women’s soccer 20-win season in school history. This year’s women’s soccer roster brought this and many other great statistics to the soccer program, including a record-number of fans to Klöckner Stadium. First, a record 2,838 fans came to witness the Cavaliers’ 3-2 win over Notre Dame in double overtime. Two weeks later, this record number of fans at Klöckner was broken once again, and this time by 1,000: 3,894 fans were in attendance as the girls beat Florida State University 1-0.
The girls’ next game is against Virginia Tech in Cary, NC at 5:30pm. You can stream the game for free online at Virginiasports.com.