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No. 18 Wahoos Head to Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Friday
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 18 Virginia men’s soccer team returns to ACC play at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., to battle Wake Forest at Spry Stadium. Live statistics as well as a link to a subscription-based live video broadcast will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Winners of three straight matches including back-to-back ACC games, Virginia (8-4-0, 3-1-0 ACC) is tied for third in the conference with Maryland with nine points. The Cavaliers and Terps are a point behind ACC co-leaders North Carolina and Duke, although UVa and Maryland each have a game in hand on UNC and Duke.
UVa won 2-0 Tuesday against Navy at Klöckner Stadium. Ryan Zinkhan (Fr., Fredericksburg, Va.) scored in his third straight game, while Brian Ownby (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) also recorded a goal for Virginia. UVa out-shot Navy, 12-9, but held a 10-1 edge during a dominating first half.
Will Bates (Jr., Chester, Va.) continues to lead the team in scoring. He has 10 goals this year – third in the ACC and eighth nationally. He stands behind Duke’s Andrew Wenger (15 goals) and Maryland’s Casey Townsend (12) in the ACC. With four assists this year, Bates owns 24 points, which is tied with Townsend for second in the ACC. He ranks 11th in the ACC in assists.
Virginia’s defense has solidified over the last three games, as UVa has recorded a pair of shutouts and allowed just one goal. Prior to this three-game stretch, UVa had allowed two goals or more in four straight contests. UVa allowed just two shots in its win at Clemson on Sept. 30.
Wake Forest holds a 5-5-2 overall record and 2-3-0 mark in ACC play. The Demon Deacons are coming off a scoreless draw at College of Charleston on Tuesday night. Ben Newnam leads the team with three goals and eight points, while Andy Lubahn has a pair of goals, three assists and seven assists. Michael Lisch has spent the majority of time in goal, giving up 14 goals and making 40 saves in 12 matches (1.11 GAA).
Virginia has a 34-7-6 all-time record against Wake Forest, although the teams’ last six games all have been determined by one goal or fewer. UVa and Wake have met five times in the last two seasons, with Virginia going 3-1-1 in those matches.
The teams met twice last season, as Wake downed UVa 1-0 in Charlottesville before the Cavaliers rebounded to prevail 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. The teams have split the last 10 meetings, 4-4-2.
Virginia returns home next Tuesday (Oct. 18) to face Howard in a 7 p.m. clash.