Men's Soccer to Face Herd of Bulls and Pack of Wolves

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September 29, 1998

THE GAMES:
#4 Virginia (6-0-2) vs Buffalo (7-2)
Klckner Stadium Charlottesville, Va.
Sept. 30, 1998 7:00 p.m.

#4 Virginia (6-0-2) vs N. C. State (1-6)
Klckner Stadium Charlottesville, Va.
Oct. 3, 1998 7:30 p.m.

THE SERIES WITH BUFFALO: Todays game will be the first time that the Cavaliers and the Bulls have met on the soccer pitch. This marks the 23rd consecutive year that the Cavaliers have faced a new opponent in the regular season.

THE SERIES WITH THE PACK: Virginia leads the all-time series with the Wolfpack 31-14-6. Although the Pack pulled out an overtime victory last year, the Cavs had gone 14-1-2 in the previous 17 matches.

SAMS DA MAN: Sam Franklin has scored the game-winner in consecutive games last week–his first two game-winning goals in his career. Against Marshall he headed in a corner kick from Ryan Trout and against UNC his shot ricocheted off a defender and into the cage.

NO GOALS FOR YOU!: Virginia has shut out its last two opponents and the Cavaliers have allowed only five goals this season. The .570 goals-against average ranks 10th in the country, and Cavalier keeper Brock Yetso ranks 11th in the nation with a GAA of 0.54.

TARRING THE HEELS: Chris Albright tallied a goal against the Heels, his team-leading eighth on the season. His 2.13 points per game ranks third in the ACC and his 1.00 goals-per-game ranks second in the conference. It is the third consecutive game that Albright has scored against the Heels.

UVA ONLY FIVE WINS AWAY FROM 500: With five more victories this season, Virginia will record the 500th win in the history of its mens soccer program. When the Cavaliers reach that milestone, they will become the first team in Atlantic Coast Conference mens soccer history with 500 victories (Duke currently ranks second with 489 all-time wins). The majority of UVas victories have come in the last 20 years, with the Cavaliers posting a 336-66-68 record since the beginning of the 1978 season. Entering the Marshall game, Virginias all-time record stands at 495-230-76 for a .665 winning percentage.

GEORGE PULLS INTO SECOND: With the Cavaliers sixth win in 1998, Virginia third-year head coach George Gelnovatch has reached 41 wins at Virginia, making him the second-most winningest coach in Virginia soccer history. His 40th win put him just ahead of former mentor Gene Corrigan (1958-65). Corrigan, who later became the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference after his stint as Virginias soccer coach, finished with a record of 39-35-7 (.525) while Gelnovatch has a current record of 41-7-8 (.806). He now trails only Bruce Arena (295-59-31/18 years). In addition, Gelnovatch needs 9 more wins this season to become the first mens soccer coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history to record 50 victories in his first three seasons. He also has a chance to become the first ACC coach to reach 50 wins before he has 10 losses.

800!!: The Cavaliers game against Marshall was the programs 800th in school history. With the win, Virginia improved its all-time record to 66.5%. RIDING THE WAKE: The Cavaliers, who have never lost in Winston-Salem, pulled another victory out on Satuday night against Wake Forest. With the Demon Deacons leading 2-1 with under five minutes to go, Steve Totten found the ball at his feet on the endline and the Wake keeper at the near post. Totten liften the ball to the far post and into the net, sending the game into overtime. The Cavaliers had played the entire game without the services of ACC Rookie of the Year Jason Moore, who had left the game in the first two minutes of play with an injury.

ALBRIGHT HAT TRICKS HOKIES: Chris Albright continued continued his torrid scoring streak with a hat trick against Virginia Tech. Albright, the teams leading scorer in 1997, also is leading the team in 1998 with 12 points on six goals. Albrights six goals is more than the rest of the team combined. It was the first hat trick by a Cavalier since Matt Leonard struck three times against Liberty on October 1, 1997. It was his second consecutive multiple-goal game and his fourth in his career.

TOTTEN SPLASHES IN: The Cavaliers Steve Totten has already made an impact on ACC soccer has he scored a goal and added two assists in the Cavaliers 4-1 victory over Maryland. Against Wake Forest, Totten scored the game-tying goal to give the Cavaliers the tie in their first ACC road game. In his first ACC game, Totten opened the scoring at the 8:40 mark when he took a pass from Jason Moore in the right side of the penalty box and found the net from 12 yards out. He then had an assist on the Cavaliers next goal, intercepting a pass in the Maryland end and sending the ball ahead to Chris Albright in the box for the score. Totten added a second assist on Virginias final score, taking a pass from Drew ODonnell in the left side of the box and playing it toward the center, where Albright headed the ball into the net. Totten, who scored his first goal as a Cavalier in the Cal State Fullerton game, is now ranked in scoring with six points on two goals and two assists. One of three freshmen to start all four games this season for the Cavaliers, Totten was an NSCAA and Parade All-American at the Peddie School in Allentown, N.J., last year. He was named to Soccer Americas team of the week for September 15.

HAT TRICK AGAINST VIRGINIA TECH: With Virginias 3-0 win over Tech on Wednesday, the Cavaliers have now scored three goals against the Hokies in three consecutive games.

ALBRIGHT FINDS THE NET TWICE AGAINST MARYLAND: Sophomore forward Chris Albright, the Cavaliers top returning scorer from 1997, had a pair of goals in the Maryland game. His first goal was the game winner, when he ran onto a pass from Steve Totten in the right side of the penalty box and one-timed it into the net from 14 yards away. Albright also scored Virginias final goal of the game, when he headed in a pass from Totten from 12 yards out in the center. With that performance Albright has now scored two goals in a game three times in his career and twice against ACC opponents. Last year he scored twice against both Akron and Wake Forest. Albright was named the Offensive MVP of the season-opening Fila Classic.

BARNES GETS FIRST GOAL AGAINST MARYLAND: Freshman forward Sheldon Barnes scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the victory over Maryland. Barnes scored an unassisted goal to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead in the 43rd minute, stealing the ball on the right flank and dribbling past a defender before scoring from 16 yards out in the right side of the box. He scored his first career point a week earlier with an assist on the game-winning goal against San Diego, winning the ball at midfield and sending it to Ryan Trout in the center, before Trout found the net for the only goal of the game. Last year, Barnes was the Florida state Player of the Year, while also earning high school All-America honors from both Parade and the NSCAA.

TROUT CONTINUES TO SCORE: Sophomore forward Ryan Trout has been a key part of the UVa offense so far this season, scoring two of the Cavaliers goals and assisting on five others. Against San Diego Trout took a pass from Sheldon Barnes and chipped a shot over the goalkeeper from 25 yards out in the center to record the game-winning goal. In the Cal State Fullerton game he took a pass from Drew ODonnell in the right corner and sent a cross into the box which Steve Totten volleyed in for the goal. Then against Lehigh Trout had assists on both goals, with Chris Albright heading in a cross for the first goal and Rob Wright knocking in a cross for the game winner. He also scored the opening goal against Wake Forest, playing center mid in place of the injured Jason Moore. His blast from 22 yards out gave the Cavaliers the early lead. Trout now has 24 points in his UVa career on five goals and 14 assists, with three of his goals being game winners.

WRIGHT MAKES FIRST GOAL A BIG ONE: Freshman forward Rob Wright, who joined the team as a walk-on in August, scored the first goal of his collegiate career in Wednesdays victory over Lehigh. Wrights goal was the game winner, as he knocked in a cross by Ryan Trout from six yards out at the far post after the ball had found its way through traffic. Wright, who has seen action in all four of the Cavaliers games off the bench, led his district in scoring and was named first team all-state last season at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach.

SPREADING IT AROUND: The Cavaliers have used a balanced offensive attack so far this season while posting a 4-0-2 record in their first six games. Virginia has scored thirteen goals on the year, with five different players finding the net. Ryan Trout scored the game winner against San Diego, while Steve Totten had the Cavaliers lone goal in the Cal State Fullerton game. Against Lehigh both Chris Albright and Rob Wright found the net for UVa, while Albright scored twice and Totten and Sheldon Barnes added goals in the Maryland contest. Albright added a hat trick and was UVas only goal-scorer against Virginia Tech. Trout and Totten both notched goals against Wake Forest.

YETSO LEAPS TO STOP WAKE: Senior goalkeeper Brock Yetso turned in still another outstanding performance in Saturday tie against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons peppered the Virginia keeper but Yetso made a series of diving saves on point blank shots to thwart the Deacons. Maryland. Yetso faced 10 Terrapin shots and made three saves while allowing only one goal. Over the course of his career, Yetso has now faced Maryland three times and allowed only one goal in 300 minutes while making 10 saves. For the season he has posted an 0.76 goals against average while making twelve saves and having no losses in four appearances. Yetso also has 104 career saves , making him only the seventh Cavaliers with more than 100 career saves. His 3,265 minutes in goal has placed him fifth all-time at Virginia in that catagory , surpassing current Cavalier coach Keith Lenert.

CHULIS AND MOORE NAMED HERMANN TROPHY FINALISTS: Senior defender Matt Chulis and sophomore midfielder Jason Moore are among the 15 finalists who have been named for the 32nd annual Hermann Trophy. Chulis and Moore make Virginia one of only four schools to have more than one finalist, along with Duke, Indiana and UCLA. The winner of the Hermann Trophy will be announced on Dec. 12 in Richmond, Va. If either Chulis or Moore wins the award he would be the fourth player in school history to receive the honor, along with Tony Meola (1989), Claudio Reyna (1993) and Mike Fisher (1995 and 1996).

MOORE GETS ANOTHER ASSIST IN TECH GAME: Sophomore midfielder Jason Moore has continued to show his value to the Cavaliers as one of the top passers and ball handlers on the squad. Moore played the entire 90 minutes against Virginia Tech, adding an assist on Albrights second goal to put the Cavaliers ahead 2-0. Moore sent in a booming free kick into the box from 40 yards out where Albright headed it into the net passed the surprised goalie. Against Maryland he had an assist on Virginias opening goal, taking the ball from the left side near midfield and sending a pass to Steve Totten for the score. Moore had recorded his first assist of the season in the previous game against Lehigh, with it coming on the game-winning goal. Moore took a free kick from 25 yards out in the center and played the ball to Ryan Trout in the right side of the box, before Trout crossed the ball to Rob Wright for the goal. Over the course of his UVa career Moore now has a total of 12 assists, with five of them coming on game-winning goals.

ODONNELL CONTINUES TO SHOW VERSATILITY: Junior Drew ODonnell has proved very valuable for the Cavaliers so far this season, starting four games at right back and twice as a flank midfielder. ODonnell has played a big role for the UVa defense, with the Cavaliers surrendered only five goals in 610 minutes. He has also made offensive contributions with three assists. ODonnells last assist came on the final goal of the Tech game with just 10 minutes remaining in the game. He beat his defender to the end line and sent in a crossing pass to Albright, who screened the Tech goalie and easily beat him with a half-volley. He also assisted on the last goal in the Maryland game when he played the ball to Steve Totten in the left side of the penalty box, before Totten passed to Chris Albright for the score. Over the course of his career, ODonnell has now totaled 10 points on two goals and six assists.

ALBRIGHT STARS FOR UNDER-20 NATIONAL TEAM: Sophomore forward Chris Albright scored four goals and one assist in three games as the United States under-20 team finished in first place in CONCACAF qualifying, held in Trinidad in early August. Albright scored two goals in a 5-1 victory over Canada, then added two goals and an assist in a 6-1 win against Trinidad & Tobago. In both contests, Albright scored the first goal of the game. The U.S. played Costa Rica to a 1-1 tie in its other game. By finishing with their 2-0-1 record, the Americans earn a spot in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, to be played in Nigeria next April.

TWO CAVALIERS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Senior defender Matt Chulis and sophomore forward Chris Albright have both been named to the Soccer America preseason All-America teams. Chulis, a first team selection, has earned second team All-America and first team All-ACC honors each of the last two seasons. Albright, a second team selection, was named to the Soccer America National All-Freshman team and the All-ACC Tournament team last season. Virginia was one of only four schools to have more than one player named to the squads.

THE HONOR ROLL: Since 1978, 19 UVa players have been named All-Americans, including 11 first-team selections. Five have left UVa as two-time All-Americans, three as three-time All-Americans and one (Jeff Agoos, 1986-90) as a four-time All-American. In addition, over the past 12 seasons UVa has produced 38 first-team all-ACC selections, 18 more than any other ACC school.

NINE CAVALIERS NAMED TO 1997-98 ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL: The UVa mens soccer team placed nine players on the 1997-98 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll. The list is comprised of all athletes in the conference who achieve a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. Current players Matt Chulis, Mike Feller, Sam Franklin and Billy Petersen were all named to the Honor Roll, along with departed seniors Matt Laughlin, Matt Leonard, Yuri Sagatov, Andriy Shapowal and Joaquin Targhetta. Overall, Virginia had 240 student athletes named to the Honor Roll.

THE DYNASTY: Since 1989, UVa has won five NCAA titles (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994), advanced to at least the NCAA semifinals seven times, and compiled an overall record of 176-25-21 (.840). From the beginning of the 1991 season until now, Virginia has lost just 17 games, going 143-17-13 (.864), including 96-8-6 (.900) against teams from outside the ACC. In the last eight years, UVa has won six ACC Championships and had five National Players of the Year.

VIRGINIA CLAIMS ACC TOURNAMENT AND REGULAR SEASON TITLES: The Cavaliers claimed the championship of last seasons ACC Tournament, marking the seventh time they have won the tournament. In the 11 year history of the ACC Tournament, which began in 1987, Virginia remains the only school to win the title more than once. Overall, the Cavaliers have an all-time record of 17-4-3 in ACC Tournament games, winning titles in 1988, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95 and 97. Virginia also tied for the 1997 ACC regular season title with Duke and North Carolina State, posting a 3-1-2 (.667) mark in conference games. That marked the 13th time the Cavaliers won the ACC regular season title, but the first time UVa has finished in a tie for first. The only school with more regular season ACC championships than Virginia is Maryland with 17, while Clemson has also won 13 titles. The Cavaliers previous ACC regular season titles came in 1969, 70, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 95 and 96.

THE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM: Once again last season, a number of Cavaliers were selected as All-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA). Three UVa players were selected to the teams, tying Virginia with Indiana for the most selections last year. Ben Olsen earned first team All-America honors, Matt Chulis was a second team selection for the second year in a row, and Scott Vermillion earned third team honors. Virginia has now had at least two NSCAA All-America selections each of the last seven years, while having at least one first team choice for the 13 straight season.

CAVALIERS PLACE FOUR ON ALL-ACC TEAMS: Four Virginia players were named to the 1997 All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams, with all four being first team selections. Matt Chulis, Ben Olsen and Scott Vermillion were all named to the first team for the second consecutive season, while Brian West earned All-ACC honors for the first time. Other than Virginia, the only other schools to place more than one player on the first team were Duke and Maryland with two each. Virginia has now had at least four players earn All-ACC honors for seven consecutive seasons.

SCOUTING THE BULLS: The Bulls have an 8-2 record which includes a 2-0 stint at home and a 3-0 record at neutral sites. Steve Butcher leads the team with 10 goals in nine games played, with two of those being game-winners. Jim Schoenberg has played every minute in goal for the Bulls and has a GAA of 1.27. Frank Butcher, with five yellow cards already this season, will not be eligible to play for the Bulls.