No. 2 Virginia Hosts Portland Sunday at 1 p.m. In NCAA Third Round

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The UVa men’s soccer team continues play in the 2009 NCAA Tournament Sunday, hosting Portland at 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers are the No. 2 overall seed, earned a first round bye and defeated Bucknell in the second round, 5-0.

Ticket prices are $9 for reserved tickets, $7 for adult general admission tickets and $5 for youth and students of participating schools. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office will take phone orders beginning on Monday, Nov. 23. Please call (800) 542-UVA1 for tickets. Cash parking is available at the University Hall lots for $5.

Virginia (15-3-3) extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games and shut out its ninth-straight opponent with the 5-0 win over Bucknell in the first round. Freshman Will Bates (Chester, Va.) had a hat trick against the Bison, and has scored a team-high 11 goals on the year. Bates was a member of the ACC All-Tournament team, the All-ACC second team and the ACC All-Freshmen team.

Goalkeeper Diego Restrepo (West Palm Beach, Fla.) broke the school record for scoreless minutes in goal, as the junior has not allowed a goal in 927 minutes and 34 seconds. The previous record was held by Tony Meola (891:25 in 1988). Restrepo is also the record-holder for shutouts in a season with 13 in 2009.

Portland (12-5-5) is making its first appearance in the NCAA third round since 2001. The Pilots defeated New Mexico, 2-1, in overtime in the first round and followed that up with a road win at No. 15 seed NC State, 2-1, in the second round.

Virginia and Portland met in the season-opener for both teams on Sept. 4, 2009, at the Portland Nike Invitational. The Cavaliers defeated the Pilots, 3-0, and Tony Tchani (Norfolk, Va.) had two goals while Bates tallied one.

The winner of Sunday’s match would advance to the quarterfinals to face either Maryland or 10th-seeded Harvard.