Virginia Opens NCAA Tournament Play Thursday Night, Hosts ODU

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia men’s soccer team begins play at the 2010 NCAA Tournament on Thursday (Nov. 18), facing the Old Dominion Monarchs in the first round. Live statistics are available at VirginiaSports.com for the 7 p.m. match.

Ticket prices are $9 for reserved tickets, $7 for adult general admission tickets and $5 for youth and students of participating schools. Please call (800) 542-UVA1 for tickets. Online orders can be placed at the VirginiaSports.com online ticket office. Parking is $5 at all University Hall lots. Click the .pdf file at the top of this story for a parking map.

Virginia (11-5-3, 2-4-2 ACC) is making its 30th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, which is the longest active streak in the nation. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 18 by Soccer America and No. 21 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Junior forward Brian Ownby (Glen Allen, Va.) became the first Cavalier since Yannick Reyering in 2007 to be named to the All-ACC First Team following the regular-season. Ownby has scored seven goals and added three assists for the Cavaliers in 2010. Sophomore forward Will Bates (Chester, Va.) leads the team with eight goals and four assists.

Senior goalkeeper and last year’s NCAA College Cup Defensive Most Valuable Player, Diego Restrepo (West Palm Beach, Fla.), posted his eighth shutout of the season in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament vs. Wake Forest. The Cavaliers fell, 2-0, to Maryland in the semifinals.

Virginia is out-scoring its opponents, 36-15.

Virginia has an all-time record of 52-24-5 in the NCAA Tournament and has won six NCAA Championships (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009).

As the reigning champions, UVa has won five-consecutive NCAA Tournament games. Dating back to a second-round NCAA Tournament loss in 2008, Virginia is unbeaten in its last 21 non-ACC matches.

Virginia is 15-5-2 all-time against ODU. The teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament. In the last meeting (Sept. 21, 2005), Old Dominion won a home game vs. UVa, 3-0.

The Monarchs (9-6-2) are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007 with an at-large berth out of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Chris Harmon leads the team with six goals and two assists, followed by Jordan LeBlanc with five goals and two assists.

Old Dominion goalkeeper Evan Newton has played 16 of the Monarchs’ 17 matches and has allowed 16 goals (0.96 goals-against average). ODU has shut out seven opponents and is out-scoring its opponents, 22-16, in 2010.

Should the Cavaliers advance to the second round, their opponent would be Penn State (13-7-1). The Nittany Lions host a second-round match on Sunday (Nov. 21) at 3 p.m.