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24 CAVALIER CORNER WOMEN'S SOCCER PREVIEW BY BILL BUNTING T he Virginia women's soccer team enters the 2023 season coming off a campaign that saw it advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and finish the year ranked among the top eight nationally. The Cavaliers return 22 players from last year's squad, but they will be tasked with fill- ing the void left by a pair of first-round draft picks in Haley Hopkins and Alexa Spaanstra, plus two other players that signed profes- sionally in Claire Constant (Portugal) and Sarah Clark (Carolina Courage, NWSL). Hop- kins and Spaanstra accounted for 22 of the team's 56 goals last season. In addition to the normal attrition of graduation, the Hoos will also be dealing with the loss of two players to injury in the offseason in midfielders Emma Dawson and Lia Godfrey. Dawson was a team captain a year ago, while Godfrey is a three-time All- America selection. "Every year there are challenges, espe- cially when you lose graduating players who have played key roles on the team, but the season-ending injuries to both Lia and Emma in the spring were obviously unexpected and heartbreaking," UVA head coach Steve Swanson said. "Nevertheless, we accept the challenges we are presented with this year and feel we have the players and team that can rise above them. "There are question marks every year, but probably the biggest question mark for us this year is 'Where are the goals going to come from?' given the players we lost to graduation and the ones who are out due to injury." To help find those answers, Swanson will look for more minutes from returning upper- classmen, a rising second-year unit that comprised the ninth- ranked recruiting class a year ago and an incoming group of first-years ranked fourth nationally. The side is bolstered by the return of an experienced de- fensive unit. Graduate student Cayla White is back in goal, and the back line returns fourth-years Samar Guidry and Laney Rouse plus graduate stu- dents Lacey McCormack and Talia Staude. "Having that experience on the defensive side will be important for us — players who have been there and done that," Swanson said. "Talia has been a major contributor to our team ever since she arrived on Grounds, and having Cayla's and Lacey's experience in goal and in the center of defense along with Laney and Samar back on the outside is huge. "All of them helped us make that deep run in the NCAA Tournament last year. We also have players like [fourth-year] Chloe Japic, [third-year] Kiki Maki and [second- year] Tatum Galvin and a mix of other good young players who have worked hard and put themselves in a good position to earn significant minutes this season." Swanson and the Hoos will rely on that extensive experience in the defensive third early in the season while the squad figures out the best mix of returning and incoming players in the attack. Among the young returning offensive players are second-year forward/midfielder Maggie Cagle — who led all NCAA Division I first-years last season with 12 total assists and 7 assists on game-winning goals — along with second-year forward Maya Carter and second-year midfielder Jill Flammia. All three players tallied 4 goals last year. Also in that class were highly touted players Galvin, second-year forward Meredith McDermott and second-year defender Helen Symbas. Galvin and McDermott saw limited action, while Symbas redshirted to rehab an injury. The incoming 2023 class features five players ranked in the IMG Top 150 recruiting rankings, led by midfielder Yuna McCormack (No. 6 overall) and goalkeeper Victoria Safradin (No. 9). "We have a lot of work to do to solidify roles, but we have some really good players coming back with a lot of experience and some really good players coming into the program," Swanson said. "There are lots of reasons to be optimistic, but we have to use this preseason to sort out roles and try to work together to see how we can win games given some of the players we will be missing. "The thing about sports is when you lose players to graduation or injury — and you never want to see the injuries — but when those things happen it presents an opportu- nity for someone else. There are a lot of play- ers here who have been waiting in the wings for their opportunity and this is the chance for them. That's what great about sports. We have a lot of players who can step up and take advantage of the opportunity." Cavaliers Need Talented Young Players To Step Up 2023 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time (ET) Aug. 17 Nevada 7 p.m. Aug. 20 Radford 6 p.m. Aug. 24 Michigan 8:15 p.m. Aug. 27 at George Mason 6 p.m. Aug. 31 West Virginia 6 p.m. Sept. 3 VCU 2 p.m. Sept. 7 Iowa 7 p.m. Sept. 16 at Louisville* 7 p.m. Sept. 21 North Carolina* 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at Wake Forest* 2 p.m. Oct. 1 Duke* 12 p.m. Oct. 5 at Clemson* 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at NC State* 2 p.m. Oct. 15 Virginia Tech* 1:30 p.m. Oct. 19 Miami* 7 p.m. Oct. 22 Boston College* 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at Syracuse* 7 p.m. Graduate student Cayla White started 20 games in goal for UVA last year, posting a 13-4-3 record with 9 shutouts, 51 saves and a 0.841 goals against average. (Photo courtesy UVA)