Virginia Men's Soccer Set To Host Virginia Soccer Classic On August 31st and September 2nd

Story Links

Aug. 30, 2001

2001 VIRGINIA SOCCER CLASSIC SCHEDULE:

VIRGINIA CAVALIERS

MARYLAND TERRAPINS

UCLA BRUINS

LIBERTY FLAMES

August 31 & September 2, 2001

Kl?ckner Stadium

GAME	DATE			MATCHUP			TIME

Game 1 Friday, August 31st UCLA vs. Maryland 5:00 p.m.

Game 2 Friday, August 31st Virginia vs. Liberty 8:00 p.m.

Game 3 Sunday, September 2nd Maryland vs. Liberty 12:00 p.m.

Game 4 Sunday, September 2nd Virginia vs. UCLA 2:30 p.m.

CURRENT RANKING: The University of Virginia men’s soccer team is ranked #3in the Soccer America Preseason Top 20 Poll and #7 in the NSCAA/adidasPreseason Poll. Virginia was also picked to finish second in the ACC inthe 2001 ACC Coaches Preseason Poll.

THE SERIES BETWEEN VIRGINIA & LIBERTY: Virginia holds a 9-0-0 advantagein the series history with the Liberty Flames. The two teams met for thefirst time on October 22, 1986 in Charlottesville, Va.  The Cavaliers wonthat contest by the score of 2-0. UVa has outscored the Flames by the countof 26-7 through nine meetings. Eight of the nine contests have been playedin Charlottesville. Here's a look at Virginia's series history with Liberty:

10/22/86	Virginia def. Liberty	2-0	Charlottesville, Va.10/27/87	Virginia def. Liberty	1-0	Charlottesville, Va.10/25/88	Virginia def. Liberty	1-0	Lynchburg, Va.10/23/91	Virginia def. Liberty	4-0	Charlottesville, Va.10/28/92	Virginia def. Liberty	3-1	Charlottesville, Va.10/5/94		Virginia def. Liberty	6-2	Charlottesville, Va.9/20/95		Virginia def. Liberty	2-1	Charlottesville, Va.10/2/96		Virginia def. Liberty	2-1	Charlottesville, Va.10/1/97		Virginia def. Liberty	5-2	Charlottesville, Va.

THE SERIES BETWEEN VIRGINIA & UCLA: Virginia trails in the all-time serieswith UCLA 1-4-0. The two teams met for the first time on September 9, 1984in Bloomington, Indiana. The Bruins defeated the Cavaliers by the score of2-1 in that contest. UCLA has outscored Virginia 8-4 through five meetings,with the Bruins scoring two goals in all four victories. UVa's lone victoryover UCLA was on September 9, 1988 in Las Vegas, Nevada when the Cavaliersclaimed a 3-0 shutout win over the Bruins. The two schools have also mettwice in the NCAA Tournament, once in the NCAA Finals (12/14/97) and oncein the NCAA Quarterfinals (12/4/99), both UCLA victories. This will be onlythe second time the Bruins will have played Virginia in Charlottesville.Here's a look at UVa's series history with UCLA:

9/9/84		UCLA def. Virginia	2-1	Bloomington, Ind.9/9/88		Virginia def. UCLA	3-0	Las Vegas, Nev.12/14/97	UCLA def. Virginia	2-0	Richmond, Va.10/31/99	UCLA def. Virginia	2-0	Westwood, Calif.12/4/99		UCLA def. Virginia	2-0	Charlottesville, Va.

HOME OPENERS: Virginia is 40-14-3 (.728) all-time in home openers datingback to the start of the 1941 season. However, over the past 32 years,Virginia has been nearly unbeatable in home openers. The Cavaliers haveposted a record of 28-2-2 (.906) during that time span, including sixconsecutive home-opening victories. The last time Virginia was defeatedin a home opener was on September 3, 1994 when Boston University handedthe Cavaliers a 3-2 defeat. Although UVa began that season with a loss,Virginia didn't miss a beat the rest of the season and closed out theyear with their fifth National Championship.

ESKANDARIAN & MARTINO NAMED 2001 HERMANN TROPHY AWARD CANDIDATES:University of Virginia men's soccer players Alecko Eskandarian and Kyle Martinowere two of 13 player announced by the Hermann Foundation and TEAMtalk, Inc.,as candidates for the 2001 Hermann Trophy Award - college soccer's oldest andmost prestigious player of the year award.  The Hermann Trophy, college soccer'sequivalent of the Heisman Trophy in college football, has been given annuallysince 1967 to the nation's best male college soccer player.  The Hermann Trophyis named for Robert R. Hermann, the former Chairman of the Executive Committeeof the old North American Soccer League and one of the ground-breaking league'sfounders.

The other men’s candidates are: the University of Connecticut’s Chris Gbandi,Indiana’s Pat Noonan, SMU’s Mohamed Fahim and Carl Bussey, Penn State’sRicardo Villar, Saint Louis’ Brad Davis, Clemson’s Oguchi Onyewu, Stanford’sLee Morrison, Bradley’s Gavin Glinton, Furman’s John Barry Nusum, andUCLA’s Alex Yi.

The candidates were chosen by a ballot of Division I college coaches andselected media. In a twist added to the selection process this year, twospots on the final ballot will remain open until Oct. 1. At that time,a poll of coaches and media will be conducted to add the final two namesto each of the 15-player ballots before the final voting is conducted.This is to ensure that any player having a stellar season will be eligibleto win the prestigious player of the year award.

Final ballots will be distributed to all Division I college coaches,tabulated, and three finalists will be announced on Dec. 1st. Thewinners of the 2001 Hermann Trophy will be announced at the College Cupon Dec. 15th in Columbus, Ohio.

HOME SWEET HOME: Virginia has enjoyed much success playing in the friendlyconfines of Kl?ckner Stadium. One of the finest college soccer facilitiesin the country, Kl?ckner Stadium has been a very tough place for opponentsto record a win. In fact, UVa has posted an eye-opening record of 114-15-6at Kl?ckner Stadium since its opening in 1992. The Cavaliers finished 12-2-1at home last season. Virginia is 20-4 (.833) in NCAA Tournament games heldat Kl?ckner Stadium during the past eight seasons, outscoring the opposition59-21 in those games.

'HOOS RANKED IN THE PRESEASON POLLS?: Virginia enters the 2001 season ranked#3 by Soccer America and #7 in the country according to the National SoccerCoaches of America (NSCAA) Top 25 poll. Prior to last season, UVa had been afixture in the Top 25 polls. Virginia had a streak of 177 consecutive pollsin the Soccer America poll snapped when it did not appear in the 10/4/99 polland fell out of the NSCAA Top 25 on 10/25/99, breaking a streak of 182consecutive appearances in the poll dating back to September of 1983.

VIRGINIA SOCCER TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The beginning of the 2001 season marksthe 17th consecutive year the Cavaliers have hosted a soccer tournament.Virginia stands 25-3-4 (.844) all-time during that time span in tournamentplay in the Coca-Cola Classic (1985-1998) and the Virginia Soccer Classic(1999-200).

VIRGINIA GOES UNDEFEATED IN EXHIBITION GAMES: Virginia finished its five-gameEuropean exhibition tour with an undefeated record of 4-0-1. The Cavaliersplayed their five games in Holland and Germany. UVa's only tie was a 1-1contest against 1860 Munich in Munich, Germany. Virginia began its exhibitiontour with two victories - a 4-2 victory over team G.V.V. in Eindhoven,Netherlands on Saturday, August 18th before handing Feyenoord a 2-0 lossin Feyenoord, Netherlands on Sunday, August 19th.

Here is a year-by-year look at UVa's results:

1985	West Virginia 		W	3-0	(1-0-0)	George Washington	W	4-1	(2-0-0)1986	Richmond		W	3-0	(3-0-0)	Cornell			W	2-0	(4-0-0)1987	Wake Forest		W	3-0	(5-0-0)	Adelphi			W	1-0	(6-0-0)1988	Illinois State		W	2-0	(7-0-0)	William & Mary		W	1-0	(8-0-0)1989	UNC-Charlotte		W	2-0	(9-0-0)	Charleston		W	6-0	(10-0-0)1990	Army			W	4-0	(11-0-0)	South Carolina		T	1-1	(11-0-1)1991	Creighton		T	3-3	(11-0-2)	Rutgers			W	2-1	(12-0-2)1992	Penn State		W	4-0	(13-0-2)	Seton Hall		W 	4-1	(14-0-2)1993	Florida International	W	3-1	(15-0-2)	Connecticut		W	5-1	(16-0-2)1994	Boston University	L	2-3	(16-1-2)	St. John's		W	2-0	(17-1-2)1995	UNLV			W	3-0	(18-1-2)	Boston College		W	3-2	(19-1-2)1996	Cal-State Fullerton	T	2-2	(19-1-3)	Saint Louis		W	2-1	(20-1-3)1997	Akron			W	5-1	(21-1-3)	Florida International	T	1-1	(21-1-4)1998	American		L	1-2	(21-2-4)	Adelphi			W	3-0	(22-2-4)1999	Seton Hall		W	4-3	(23-2-4)	Gonzaga			L	2-3	(23-3-4)2000	South Florida		W	3-2	(24-3-4)	Jacksonville		W	7-1	(25-3-4)

LAST TIME OUT: Virginia lost its last official contest when it dropped a3-0 decision to the Creighton Bluejays on December 2, 2000 in the NCAAQuarterfinals. It was the third consecutive year the Cavaliers wereeliminated in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. Here's a look atthe box score from that game.

December 2, 2000Charlottesville, Va. - Game 24

No. 7 Creighton 3, No. 6 Virginia 0

Scoring 1 2 FinalCreighton 1 2 3Virginia 0 0 0

Goals: CU 3 – Mullan (Fox) @ 7:42,Tranchilla (Mullan) @ 55:58,Mullan (Jewitt, Sawarynski) @ 89:18.Shots: UVa 24, CU 11.Corner Kicks: UVa 12, CU 2.Saves: CU 9, UVa 3.Fouls: UVa 22, CU 21.Cautions: UVa 1 – Cole, CU – none.Attendance: 2,317.