Men's Soccer Looks to Buck the Broncs
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November 18, 1998
No. 6 Virginia (14-3-3) vs. Rider (13-7-1)
Kloeckner Stadium * Charlottesville * Nov. 22, 1998 * 2 p.m.
CAVALIERS ALL-TIME AGAINST RIDER: This will be the first-ever meetingbetween the Cavaliers and the Broncs. Rider made its first appearance in thetournament last season. Just as last year, Rider has drawn the No. 2 seed in thetournament. Last fall, the Broncs traveled to Dallas for a first-round showdownwith Southern Methodist. SMU won the game 1-0. Rider received a bid to thetournament by defeating America East champion Drexel 3-1 Saturday in one of five
NCAA play-in games.
UVa IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Cavaliers own a 33-13-4 all-timerecord in the NCAA Tournament to go along with five national titles. Virginiacaptured the crown in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994. The Wahoos also reachedthe championship game last season, falling to UCLA 2-0. After losing to Howard3-2 in double-overtime in the quarterfinals of the tournament, Virgina went sixand a half years without losing an NCAA Tournament match. Along the way, UVaposted a 25-0-3 mark. Twice the Cavs tied Santa Clara in the championship game.The two teams were named co-champions in 1989, but UVa won the 1991 title thanksto a 3-1 advantage in penalty kicks. The only time during that span that Virginiadid not advance was a tie with N.C. State in the quarterfinals. NCSU advanced 7-6in penalty kicks. Duke ended the Cavalier reign over postseason play with a 3-2victory over the Wahoos in the semifinals in 1995. Virginia is just 4-3-0 in itslast seven NCAA Tournament matches.
CAVS ACC STREAK COMES TO AN END: For the first time since 1989, theACC Tournament championship game was without the Blue and Orange. The Cavaliersfell to third-seeded Duke 3-1 in overtime Friday in the semifinals to stop anunprecedented run of eight consecutive championship game appearances. Ironically,the Blue Devils were the team to keep Virginia out of the finals in 1989 with a1-0 victory in the semifinals at Durham.
UNLIKELY HEROES STEP UP IN WINSTON-SALEM: Junior defender MichaelGreen netted the game-winner against North Carolina State in the quarterfinals ofthe ACC Tournament. It was just his second career goal and the first game-winnerof his career. Sophomore walk-on midfielder Curtis Bush put two goals in the netin his first three career shots on goal. Bush scored his first goal just 57seconds after entering the game against the Wolfpack. Against Duke, he put a shotin the back of the net from 15 yards to tie the game 1-1 and send the match toovertime.
FIVE CAVALIERS NAMED ALL-ACC: Chris Albright, Matt Chulis and JasonMoore were named first-team All-ACC last week, while Sam Franklin and Brock Yetsopicked up second-team honors. UVa tied Clemson for the most first-team selectionswith three. The Cavaliers’ five overall selections was bettered only by theTigers’ six picks. For Chulis, it was All-ACC selection No. 3. Albright was asecond-team selection in 1997 and Moore was the ACC Rookie of the Year a seasonago.
CHULIS HONORED BY SOCCER AMERICA: Senior defender Matt Chulis played alarge roll in the Cavaliers two shutouts in the final week of the season and hewas thusly honored. A native of Central Islip, N.Y., Chulis was named to SoccerAmerica’s national team of the week for the week ending Nov. 8. This was thefirst such honor this season for Chulis, who helped keep defenders scoreless fora span of 375 minutes, 59 seconds.
FRANKLIN BOOTS OHIO STATE: Senior midfielder Sam Franklin nailed aone-timer from 20 yards at the 80:27 mark to lead the Cavaliers past Ohio State1-0. Franklin, who was playing in his final regular-season home game, now hasfour goals on the year — all game-winners. This one came thanks to a littlefate. Matt Chulis passed to Steve Totten, who tried to pass to Chris Albright inthe box. However, an OSU defender punched the ball out, but right to Franklin forthe score. The goal put an end to a 229-minute, 39-second scoring drought for theCavaliers, their longest such stretch since the 1981 season. Meanwhile, UVanotched its second straight shutout for the second time this year.
SAM’S THE MAN: Sam Franklin scored the game-winner in the Cavaliers’victory over Ohio State. Franklin has a nack for scoring just at the right times.He has four goals this season and all of them are game-winners. Franklin, asenior from Arlington, has six goals on his career and 19 points.
JUST ANOTHER NOTCH IN THE BELT: No big news for senior defender MattChulis. The Cavaliers shutout of Ohio State gives Chulis 31 shutouts in hiscareer at Virginia. The native of Central Islip, N.Y., has started every game inwhich he has played during his career on Grounds — an impressive 90-game run.That ranks him in a six-way tie for sixth in UVa history for career games played.Chulis has also played every minute this year, something which no other Cavaliercan claim. His 8,496 career minutes played ranks second all-time at UVa.
YETSO LANDS IN SECOND: Senior keeper Brock Yetso moved into secondplace all-time at Virginia against Ohio State in minutes played in goal. TheColumbia, Md., native now has 4,312 minutes. However, barring a miracle, Yetsowill remain in second for the rest of the way as the school record is 7,050 byJeff Causey.
CAVALIERS, TRIBE SLIP, SLIDE TO STANDSTILL: Virginia and the Collegeof William & Mary played 120 minutes last week and solved nothing. The game endedin a 0-0 tie after a pair of extra periods on a rain-drenched sod of the VirginiaBeach SportsPlex. The field, which is prescription athletic turf, remained inrelatively good condition; however, a steady mist of rain and temperatures in thelow 40s made playing conditions less than favorable. It was the first scorelesstie for the Cavs since Sept. 7, 1997 when the ‘Hoos and Maryland knotted withoutscoring.
ALBRIGHT CLIMBING CHARTS: Sophomore forward Chris Albright now has 18goals on the season. He leads the team in that category and ranks second in theACC. Albright is just five goals shy of A.J. Wood’s UVa record of 23 goals in aseason, which was set in 1994. The Virginia sophomore record is 21 by JeffGaffney in 1983. Albright is also vying to become the first sophomore to lead theteam outright in both scoring and goals since Gaffney in 1983.
ALBRIGHT ON THREE SOCCER AMERICA TEAMS: Sophomore forward ChrisAlbright was named to Soccer America’s national collegiate team of the week threetimes during the regular season. His last selection came for the week of Nov. 2,his second consecutive week on the team, after Albright netted a pair of goals inboth UVa games the previous week, including the game-winner in both matches.
WAHOOS CLAIM 500th WIN: UVa’s ramatic 2-1 victory over FairleighDickinson gave Virginia its 500th all-time win in men’s soccer. The Cavaliersbecome the first team in Atlantic Coast Conference men’s soccer history with 500victories (Duke currently ranks second with 492 all-time wins). The majority ofUVa’s victories have come in the last 20 years, with the Cavaliers posting a344-68-40 record since 1978. Entering the FDU game, Virginia’s all-time recordstands at 502-232-78 for a .666 winning percentage.
ALBRIGHT DUBBED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore forward ChrisAlbright was named ACC Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 19 thanks to hisone-goal, one-assist performance against Duke. Albright assisted Steve Totten’sfirst-half goal to put UVa up 1-0. In the second half, after the Devils had takena 2-1 lead, he tied the score with his 14th goal of the season in the 82ndminute.
WRIGHT’S DINK DUMPS DEVILS: Freshman Rob Wright trickled a shot pastDuke keeper Alti Knuttson and just inside the left post with 12 seconds remainingSunday to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 win over then-No. 3 Duke in Charlottesville.UVa took a 1-0 lead thanks to a Steve Totten goal five minutes into the match.However, a pair of second-half Duke goals gave the Devils a 2-1 lead with lessthan 12 minutes to play. In the 82nd minute, Chris Albright netted his 14th goalof the season to knot the score 2-2 before Wright hit the game winner justminutes later. It was the fourth consecutive victory against Duke for theCavaliers, who now lead the all-time series 29-26-7.
CAVALIERS GO 1-1 AT COCA-COLA CLASSIC: Virginia rebounded from itsopening day loss in the Coca-Cola Classic to defeat the Adelphi Panthers 3-0.Five different Cavaliers scored in the game as the Cavaliers rebounded from theirfirst loss of the season. Matt Chulis, Sam Franklin, and Chris Albright were allnamed to the All-Tournament team. Marshall, a team the Cavaliers had defeated 4-0earlier in the month, claimed the title with a pair of overtime victories.
VIRGINIA CLAIMS THREE M.A.C. DADDIES: Virginia’s Chris Albright, MattChulis, and Jason Moore are all candidates for the 1998 Missouri Athletic ClubSports Foundation Collegiate Player of the Year. Virginia is the only school withthree representatives on the candidate list.
ALBRIGHT’S ALL RIGHT: Chris Albright’s multiple-goal game againstBuffalo marked the third time that the sophomore has tallied multiple goals in agame this season and the fifth time in his career. He has also tallied threegame-winning goals this season. He was named the ACC Player of the Week for hisefforts in the games against Buffalo and ACC-rival N.C. State. He scored a goalin the N.C. State game.
GREEN’S NOT ALL THAT GREEN: Michael Green showed his veteran poise bycollecting an assist on the game-winning goal against N.C. State and adding aninsurance goal near the end of the game. It was his second game-winning assist inhis career and his first career goal.
GEORGE PULLS INTO SECOND: With the Cavaliers’ ninth win in 1998,Virginia third-year head coach George Gelnovatch has reached 44 wins at Virginia,making him the second-winningest coach in Virginia soccer history. His 40th winput him just ahead of former mentor Gene Corrigan (1958-65). Corrigan, who laterbecame the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference after his stint asVirginia’s soccer coach, finished with a record of 39-35-7 (.525) whileGelnovatch has a current record of 48-9-9 (.795). He now trails only Bruce Arena(295-59-31 in 18 seasons). In addition, Gelnovatch needs two more wins thisseason to become the first men’s soccer coach in Atlantic Coast Conferencehistory to record 50 victories by the end of his third season. He also has achance to become the first ACC coach to reach 50 wins before he has 10 losses.
800!!: The Cavaliers’ game against Marshall was the program’s 800th inschool history. With the win, Virginia improved its all-time winning percnetageto .665.
RIDING THE WAKE: The Cavaliers, who have never lost in Winston-Salem,pulled another victory out against Wake Forest earlier this season. With theDemon Deacons leading 2-1 with under five minutes to go, Steve Totten found theball at his feet on the endline and the Wake keeper at the near post. Tottenlifted the ball to the far post and into the net, sending the game into overtime.Virginia played the entire game without the services of 1997 ACC Rookie of theYear Jason Moore, who left the game in the first two minutes of play with aninjury.
ALBRIGHT HAT TRICKS HOKIES: Chris Albright continued continued historrid scoring streak with a hat trick against Virginia Tech. It was the firsthat trick by a Cavalier since Matt Leonard struck three times against Liberty onOctober 1, 1997.