Cavaliers Play Host to No. 13 Boston College at 7 p.m. Saturday
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s soccer team entertains Boston College at 7 p.m. Saturday in a key ACC match at Klöckner Stadium. ESPN3 will be on hand to show a live webcast, while live statistics will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
Tickets are $9 for reserved seats, $7 for adult general admission and $5 for youth/student/senior citizen general admission. Fans can order tickets online at VirginiaSports.com and by phone through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 434-924-UVA1 (8821). Tickets are also available at the gate beginning one hour prior to the start of play. Gates open one hour prior to the match. Free parking is available in the University Hall and John Paul Jones Arena lots.
The match will be critical for both teams as they enter the final week of the regular season. With two matches remaining Virginia (10-5-1, 3-2-1 ACC) is tied with Duke for fourth place in the conference with 10 points. Boston College (11-4-0, 3-3-0) is a point behind in sixth place. The top four teams in the final conference standings receive home-field advantage for the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
Virginia is ranked as high as 24th nationally by Soccer Times and also holds a No. 25 national ranking according to Soccer America. Boston College is ranked as high as 13th nationally by the NSCAA.
UVa notched its third straight shutout with a 2-0 victory over American Tuesday evening at Klöckner Stadium. Calvin Rezende (Fr., Davie, Fla.) and Brian Ownby (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) each scored for the Cavaliers, who now have recorded five shutouts in their last seven matches.
UVa goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) made a pair of saves as he picked up his ACC-leading seventh shutout of the season.
Now 5-1-1 in its last seven games, UVa reached the 10-win plateau for the 31st straight season on Tuesday. The Cavaliers played their first game without leading scorer Will Bates (Jr., Chester, Va.), who suffered a season-ending knee injury last Friday against Virginia Tech.
Boston College has been off since downing Duke, 2-1 in overtime, last Friday. Kyle Bekker and Charlie Rugg (the reigning ACC Player of the Week) each have seven goals and five assists to lead BC with 19 points. BC has been especially tough early in games, outscoring its foes 12-5 in the first half.
This marks the ninth meeting in the Virginia-Boston College series, with UVa holding a 4-3-1 advantage. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in Newton, Mass., last year. Since BC’s entrance into the ACC in 2005, the teams are 3-3-1 against one another. Seven of the eight meetings have been determined by one goal or a tie.
Virginia finishes the regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday at home against NC State. UVa will conduct senior night ceremonies prior to the match.