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No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Wake Forest Clash Friday in College Cup on ESPN2
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The UVa men’s soccer team faces Wake Forest in the 2009 NCAA College Cup Friday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2, with J.P. Dellacamera and Kyle Martino calling the action. Live statistics are available at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia (17-3-3) extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games and shut out its 11th-straight opponent with the 3-0 win over Maryland in the quarterfinals. Neil Barlow (Herndon, Va.), Will Bates (Chester, Va.) and Jordan Evans (Chester, Va.) were the goal scorers for UVa.
Bates leads the team with 12 goals and had a hat trick against Bucknell in the first round. He 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.) extended his school record for scoreless minutes in goal, as the junior has not allowed a goal in 1,107 minutes and 34 seconds. The previous record was held by Tony Meola (891:25 in 1988). The NCAA record was set by Michigan State goalkeeper Avery Steinlage from Oct. 15, 2008 to Sept. 21, 2009 and is 1,318 minutes and 26 seconds. Restrepo is also the UVa record-holder for shutouts in a season with 15 in 2009.
Virginia is making its 29th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, dating back to 1981. That streak is the longest-active in the nation.
UVa holds a 50-25-4 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, and has won five NCAA Championships (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994).
Virginia’s last appearance in the NCAA College Cup was in 2006 in St. Louis, Mo. The Cavaliers dropped a 4-0 contest to UCLA in the national semifinal.
No. 2 seed Virginia and No. 1 seed Akron have not allowed a goal in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Third-seeded Wake Forest has allowed three goals, while fifth-seeded North Carolina has allowed just one.
The Demon Deacons (17-3-3) earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and are making their fourth-straight appearance in the College Cup. Wake Forest won the 2007 NCAA Championship.
Wake Forest is the No. 3 overall seed at this year’s tournament and defeated UNC-Wilmington in the second round (2-1), Duke in the third round (4-2) and UCLA in the quarterfinals (2-0).
Zack Schilawski leads the team with 14 goals and seven assists, followed by Austin da Luz with six goals and 15 assists.
Goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald has allowed 15 goals in 23 games for a goals-against average of 0.66.
The teams have met twice this year, once during the regular season and once in the 2009 ACC Tournament.
On Sept. 18, 2009 at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Cavaliers came away with a 1-0 victory on a goal by Mike Volk.
At the ACC Tournament in the semifinal round, fifth-seeded Virginia advanced past the top-seeded Demon Deacons, 5-4 on penalty kicks, after the teams played to a double overtime scoreless draw.
Virginia leads the all-time series with WFU, 32-6-6, and has won two of the last three meetings.
The teams met once in the NCAA Tournament, a second-round match-up in 2003 in which UVa prevailed, 2-0.
The winner of Friday’s match will advance to the 2009 NCAA Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m., televised by ESPN2. The winner will face the winner of Akron vs. North Carolina.