No. 11 Virginia Entertains No. 23 North Carolina Friday Night

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Oct. 31, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 11 Virginia men’s soccer team takes on No. 23 North Carolina at 7 p.m. Friday in a key ACC match at Klöckner Stadium. One point separates the sides in the ACC standings with two matches remaining in the regular season. Virginia is unbeaten in its last 11 matches entering play on Friday (7-0-4 in that stretch).

Free Virginia Soccer scarves will be handed out to the first 2,000 fans in attendance.

Records
Virginia: 8-3-4 (ACC: 3-2-4)
North Carolina: 6-3-5 (ACC: 3-1-5)

Ticket/Parking Information
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth, seniors and faculty/staff. Group ticket orders of 20 or more tickets are $4. Free parking is available in the University Hall, John Paul Jones Arena and Cage lots.

Broadcast Information
The game will be streamed online through the ACC Digital Network on theACC.com. Live statistics (GameTracker) will be located on VirginiaSports.com, as well as the new Virginia Sports app, which is available free of charge through iTunes.

Virginia-North Carolina Series
North Carolina owns a 38-34-8 advantage in the all-time series with Virginia, which dates to 1946. Nine of the last 10 meetings have been decided by one goal or a draw. UNC is unbeaten in its last six matches with Virginia – all via shutouts. UVa’s last goal against UNC came on Oct. 3, 2008 in the Cavaliers’ 1-0 win in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers snapped a five-match losing streak to UNC in the semifinals of the 2012 ACC Tournament with a scoreless draw, although UNC won the PK shootout to advance to the finals.

Madison Named National and ACC Player of Week
Virginia sophomore forward Darius Madison was named the ACC Player of the Week after scoring both goals in the Cavaliers’ 2-0 victory last Saturday at No. 2 Notre Dame. Madison is the first Cavalier to earn the conference honor this season. He also is the first UVa player to claim the distinction since Will Bates on Oct. 11, 2011.

Madison also was honored by College Soccer News as its National Player of the Week and was selected to Top Drawer Soccer’s Team of the Week.

Key Match in ACC Standings
UNC and UVa are separated by one point in the conference standings, with the Tar Heels (14 points) holding a one-point lead over the Cavaliers (13) for fifth place (three points for a win, one point for a draw). Both teams are chasing Clemson (17), which holds fourth place in the conference. The top four teams in the final standings earn home-field advantage for the first round of the ACC tournament.

Virginia Owns Longest Unbeaten Streak Since 2009
Virginia brings an 11-match unbeaten streak into the match tonight with North Carolina; UVa is 7-0-4 during the stretch. It marks the longest Cavalier unbeaten streak since 2009 when UVa ended the year on a 16-match unbeaten string in winning the national championship. This also is by far the longest current unbeaten streak in the ACC (Duke has a four-game streak).

Another Tough Opponent
Virginia’s schedule has been full of strong opposition all year. The Cavaliers have the top strength of schedule in the ACC and the sixth toughest nationally, according to the latest numbers from the NCAA, released Monday. UVa’s opponents have a combined 98-52-44 record this year, good for a .619 winning percentage.

Offense Ranks Among Top 10 Nationally
Virginia ranks ninth nationally and second in the ACC in scoring offense with 2.14 goals per game (rankings as of NCAA’s Monday report). With 32 goals this year, UVa is tied for 12th-most nationally and stands second in the ACC. UVa has scored at least two goals in 10 of its last 12 matches, with 29 goals in that span.

UVa already has surpassed its goal total for the entire 2012 season (29 in 20 games). The Cavaliers have scored twice as many goals as their opponents this year (32-16).

Noting North Carolina
UNC has conceded just nine goals this year, an ACC low. Junior forward Tyler Engel leads the Tar Heel offense with four goals and two assists. Sophomore midfielder Raby George also is a major contributor with three goals and one assist. Junior Brendan Moore is the primary goalkeeper this season. He currently has 45 saves and seven shutouts on the year.

Up Next
Virginia wraps up the regular season next Friday (Nov. 8) with a home ACC tilt against Boston College. Senior Night ceremonies will be conducted prior to the 7 p.m. match.