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Sept. 9, 2004
VIRGINIA’S RANKINGS/RECORD: Virginia (2-0-0) is ranked #11 by Soccer America, #14 by Soccer Times and #23 by the NSCAA/adidas in the Top-25 polls. UVa began the 2004 season ranked #8 in College Soccer News’ Preseason Top-30 poll, #11 in Soccer America’s Preseason Top-25 poll, #13 in the Soccer Times Preseason Top-25 poll and #20 in the NSCAA/adidas Preseason Top-25 poll. Since the beginning of the 1984 season, the Cavaliers have been the top-ranked team in 71 Soccer America polls and 55 NSCAA polls (formerly the ISAA poll). Virginia was ranked in 183 consecutive NSCAA polls dating back to September of 1983 until the streak was snapped on 10/25/99, and was ranked in 177 consecutive Soccer America polls since September of 1984 until the streak ended on 10/4/99.
UP NEXT: Virginia will face the Cincinnati Bearcats (0-1-0) and the Saint Louis Billikens (2-0-0) in the 2004 Saint Louis Nike Classic in St. Louis, Missouri on September 10th & 12th at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. UVa will face Cincinnati on Friday, September 10th before facing host Saint Louis on Sunday, September 12th.
THE SERIES WITH UC & SLU: Virginia will be making its first ever appearance against Cincinnati in men’s soccer when the two teams meet. UVa leads the all-time series with Saint Louis 3-1-2.
LAST TIME THEY MET: Virginia has never played Cincinnati in men’s soccer, this will be the first meeting between the two schools. Saint Louis defeated UVa by the score of 3-2 in overtime on August 31, 2003 in Charlottesville in Game 4 of the 2003 Virginia Soccer Classic.
UVA RECORDS BACK-TO-BACK SHUTOUTS OVER MARSHALL & LONG ISLAND IN VIRGINIA SOCCER CLASSIC: Virginia began the regular season portion of its 2004 schedule with a pair of shutout victories over the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Long Island Blackbirds in the 2004 Virginia Soccer Classic. UVa defeated Marshall by the score of 3-0 in the Cavaliers’ season-opener before posting a 2-0 victory over Long Island.
UVA’S CRISTMAN, FREEMAN & BURKE NAMED TO VIRGINIA SOCCER CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Virginia’s trio of Adam Cristman (forward), Hunter Freeman (defender) and Ryan Burke (goalkeeper) were named to the 2004 Virginia Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team. The trio guided UVa to a 2-0 record and a second place finish in the tournament following a 3-0 victory over Marshall before posting a 2-0 win over Long Island. Cristman scored three goals in the event (two against Marshall and the game-wining goal against Long Island), Freeman had the game-winning assist on Cristman’s goal against Long Island and provided excellent defense to help the Cavaliers post two shutout victories, while Burke tallied five saves to help preserve back-to-back shutouts in goal.
FIRST TIME FOR FIRST-YEARS: Virginia’s first-year wave of Dane Murphy, Chris Tierney, Zola Short, Matt Ayotte, Matt Williams and Jeremy Barlow all experienced their first collegiate game in a Cavalier uniform in the 2004 Virginia Soccer Classic Tournament (September 3rd & 5th). Murphy, Tierney, Short, Ayotte and Williams made their UVa debut in Virginia’s 3-0 victory over Marshall on September 3rd, while Barlow made his UVa debut and his first collegiate start in Virginia’s 2-0 victory over Long Island on September 5th. Also, Furman transfer Chefik Simo, who hasn’t played since the 2002 season, made his first appearance in a Cavalier uniform by playing in Virginia’s match against Marshall.
HOME-OPENERS: Virginia’s record for home opening games stands at 43-15-3 (.730) all-time dating back to the start of the 1941 season. Over the last 36 years, Virginia has been nearly unbeatable in home openers. The Cavaliers have posted a record of 31-3-2 (.889) during that time span.
HOME SWEET HOME: Virginia has enjoyed much success playing in the friendly confines of Klöckner Stadium. One of the finest college soccer facilities in the country, Klöckner Stadium has been a very tough place for opponents to record a win. Since its opening in 1992, UVa has posted an eye-opening record of 146-22-7 at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers are currently 2-0-0 at home this season (2004). Virginia finished the 2003 season with a home record of 8-5-0 including a mark of 1-1-0 in the NCAA Tournament at home. In 2002, the Cavaliers finished the regular season a perfect 12-0-0 at home and finished the 2002 season 12-1-0 at home. Virginia is 21-7 in NCAA Tournament games held at Klöckner Stadium during the past 12 seasons, outscoring its opposition 63-26 in those games.
GELNOVATCH TOPS 100 VICTORIES AND IS CLIMBING: UVa men’s soccer head soccer coach George Gelnovatch recorded his 100th career head coaching victory on August 30th, 2002 when Virginia defeated #25 Kentucky by the score of 3-2. Gelnovatch has coached eight season at UVa, and has recorded 127 wins as a head coach at Virginia with a career record of 127-45-14, including a mark of 29-13-6 in the ACC. By reaching the 100-win mark, it makes him only the second UVa men’s soccer coach to record the milestone. Former Virginia men’s soccer head coach Bruce Arena holds UVa’s all-time coaching victory mark with 295 (295-59-31, 74-21-11 ACC).
VIRGINIA SOCCER TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The 2004 Virginia Soccer Classic marks the 20th consecutive year the Cavaliers have hosted a soccer tournament. UVa stands 30-6-4 (.800) all-time during that time span in tournament play in the Coca-Cola Classic (1985-1998) and the Virginia Soccer Classic (1999-2004).
VIRGINIA PICKED SECOND IN 2004 ACC PRESEASON COACHES POLL: With all 11 starters back from last season’s ACC Championship squad, the University of Virginia men’s soccer team was picked second in the 2004 Preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Soccer Coaches Poll. The Cavaliers received 51 points and one first place vote in the poll. North Carolina was picked to finish first in the poll with 57 points and received four first-place votes. Maryland, Clemson and Virginia Tech also received a first-place vote in the poll. Wake Forest was picked to finish third in the poll with 45 points and was followed by Maryland in fourth with 40 points and Clemson in fifth with 31 points. Duke was picked sixth with 25 points, followed by league newcomer Virginia Tech in seventh with 21 points. N.C. State rounded out the poll in eighth place with 18 points. Here is a look at the poll:
2004 Preseason ACC Men’s Soccer Poll
School Points 2003 Record1. North Carolina (4) 57 12-4-4 (2-3-1)2. Virginia (1) 51 11-10-2 (3-3-0)3. Wake Forest 45 15-5-0 (4-2-0)4. Maryland (1) 40 20-3-1 (5-1-0)5. Clemson (1) 31 9-7-4 (2-4-0)6. Duke 25 8-10-1 (2-4-0)7. Virginia Tech (1) 21 14-5-3 (7-3-0)*8. N.C. State 18 9-9-2 (2-3-1)
* denotes Big East conference record in 2003
VIRGINIA TIES SOUTH CAROLINA IN PRESEASON EXHIBITION MATCH, 0-0: The No. 8 ranked University of Virginia men’s soccer team played the South Carolina Gamecocks to a 0-0 tie in an exhibition match on Thursday night at USC’s Eugene E. Stone III Stadium in Columbia, S.C. There was not an overtime period played in the contest. The match also marked the second consecutive year Virginia and South Carolina played to a scoreless overtime exhibition contest.
ORANGE DEFEATS BLUE IN BLUE/ORANGE EXHIBITION: The Orange Team defeated the Blue Team by the score of 3-1 in the University of Virginia men’s soccer team’s Blue/Orange exhibition match at UVa’s Klockner Stadium on August 21st. Midfielder Sean Hinkle broke a 1-1 tie game and netted the eventual game-winning goal to propel the Orange Team to a two-goal victory. The match was the first of two exhibition contests schedule for the Cavaliers in the preseason. Hinkle and first-year midfielder Jeremy Barlow were named Co-Players of the Game for the Orange Team.
VIRGINIA PULLS IN ANOTHER TOP-NOTCH RECRUITING CLASS: UCLA’s recruiting class was listed as the top class in the rankings, followed by Duke, South Florida, North Carolina and Maryland to round out the Top-5. Wake Forest fell in at #6, followed by SMU, Virginia Tech, UC Santa Barbara and Clemson to fill out the Top-10. Other schools listed ahead of UVa in the rankings were Notre Dame, Oregon State, Connecticut, Indiana and New Mexico, respectively. The Cavaliers are coming off the heels of a 2003 season where they finished 11-10-2 overall, 3-3-0 in the ACC. Virginia won the 2003 ACC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd consecutive year before bowing out in the NCAA Third Round. UVa relied heavily on its 2003 recruiting class of newcomers to fill several valuable roles last season. Virginia’s 2003 recruiting class was ranked eighth in the nation in last year’s College Soccer News Top-40 2003 Recruiting Classes poll.
VIRGINIA RANKED 11TH IN SOCCER AMERICA TOP-25 PRESEASON POLL: The University of Virginia men’s soccer team was ranked 11th in the 2004 Soccer America Preseason Top-25 poll. Virginia, the 2003 ACC Champion, returns all 11 starters from last year’s NCAA qualifying team. UVa was also ranked No. 8 in the College Soccer News Preseason Top-30 poll and No. 20 in the NSCAA/adidas Preseason Top-25 poll last week. Virginia is one of five schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) ranked in the 2004 Soccer America Preseason Top-25 poll. The Cavaliers were joined by ACC members Wake Forest (#4), North Carolina (#6), Maryland (#15) and Clemson (#22) in the poll. UVa was also one of two schools from the Commonwealth of Virginia ranked in the poll as the Cavaliers were joined by Virginia Commonwealth (#16) in the Top-25.
VIRGINIA RANKED 20TH IN NSCAA/ADIDAS TOP-25 PRESEASON POLL: The University of Virginia men’s soccer team was ranked 20th in the NSCAA/adidas Preseason Top-25 poll. Virginia, the 2003 ACC Champion, returns all 11 starters from last year’s NCAA qualifying team that finished ranked 17th in the 2003 NSCAA/adidas final national rankings. UVa was also ranked No. 8 in the College Soccer News Preseason Top-30 poll last week. Virginia is one of four schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) ranked in the 2004 NSCAA/adidas Preseason Top-25 poll. Virginia was joined by ACC members Maryland (#3), North Carolina (#6) and Wake Forest (#8) in the poll. UVa was also one of three schools from the Commonwealth of Virginia ranked in the poll as the Cavaliers were joined by Virginia Commonwealth (#13) and Old Dominion (#18) in the Top-25.
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY & HOW IN 2003?: Virginia finished the 2003 season with a record of 11-10-2 overall, 3-3-0 in the ACC. UVa turned in a mark of 1-0-2 in the ACC Tournament to claim the ACC Championship and finished 2-1-0 in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the third round. The Cavaliers were 8-5-0 at home, 1-4-0 on the road and 2-1-2 on neutral sites. Virginia was 4-4-1 in matches against ranked opponents and played in 10 matches being a ranked team. UVa was 0-2-2 in overtime matches. The Cavaliers averaged 1,844 spectators per game as a total for all games, including an average of 1,713 at home. UVa averaged 1,626 spectators per game on the road and 2,403 spectators per game on neutral sites. Virginia’s total season attendance was 44,412 for all games, including 22,265 at home. UVa scored 29 goals and gave up 29 goals. The Cavaliers outshot their opponents 331-229 for the season.