No. 12 Virginia and UNCW Clash on Labor Day

Sept. 3, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 12 Virginia (2-0) is at home for the third-straight game this Monday night (Sept. 4) when it hosts UNCW (3-0) at 7 p.m.

Game Coverage: The contest will air on ACC Network Extra, which is available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 through WatchESPN and the ESPN app. will be available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get in-game updates on the men’s soccer official twitter feed (@UVAMenSoccer).

Promotions

• Monday Mania – spin the prize wheel at the Sports Promotions table to win assorted giveaways (noisemakers, concessions items, merchandise discounts, tchotchkes)
• Post-game autographs – Immediately following the match, the men’s soccer team will sign autographs for approximately ten (10) minutes by the south end of Klöckner Stadium.

Series History

• Monday’s match will be the third meeting between UNCW and Virginia in an all-time series that began in 1983.
• The Cavaliers have taken both previous contests by a combined score of 7-1.
• The two schools last met in the Second Round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. UNCW grabbed the initial lead on a goal in the 20th minute before the Cavaliers rattled of three goals to advance. Virginia went on to win the 2014 National Championship, its seventh in program history.

Offensive Outburst

• Four different Cavaliers scored in the shutout victory on Thursday night against Hofstra including juniors Daniel Barir and Julian Cummings who recorded the first goals of their careers.
• The four goals were the most in a single game by Virginia since it found the back of the net five times against Pitt on Oct. 4, 2013.
• Junior Edward Opoku had a part in the final three goals in Thursday night’s win over Hofstra. Just before the half, he made the score 2-0 with his second goal of the season. He went on to record his first multi-assist game of his career with two, second-half assists.

Moving Up

• Goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell registered his 18th career shutout on Thursday night, passing former UVA All-American, Tony Meola for the fifth most in school history.
• Caldwell also vaulted into fifth place in goalie minutes played after a full 90 minutes on Thursday night. He now has appeared in 40-straight games for the Cavaliers and accumulated 3,987 career minutes.
• Caldwell is three saves shy of tying Brock Yesto for fifth all-time in career saves. Caldwell will go into Monday night’s contest with 148 career saves in 42 career games played.

Team Notes

• A total of 22 players saw action in Thursday night’s victory over Hofstra. Defender Sergi Nus led all field players with 80 minutes played. The senior defender leads the team with 185 total minutes.
• With goals against Hofstra, both Opoku and teammate Pablo Aguilar lead all active Cavaliers with 10 career goals.
• Seven players (Caldwell, Fabrice Shema, Nate Odusote, Pablo Aguilar, Liam Jenkins, Sheldon Sullivan, Julian Cummings) on the current Virginia team remain from the 2014 National Championship team. Only Aguilar saw action against UNCW in the 2014 NCAA Second Round match.

Trending

• Coming into Monday’s match, Virginia is unbeaten in 18-straight games at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers were unblemished at home last season, posting a record of 9-0-4.
• Opoku has scored in back-to-back games for the second time in two seasons. He scored in consecutive games against No. 2 Notre Dame (Oct. 14) and William & Mary (Oct. 18) in 2016.

Noting UNCW

• The Seahawks started off their 2017 slate with a pair of wins at the Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament co-hosted by Jacksonville University and North Florida.
• In front of its largest home crowd ever, UNCW upended No. 2 North Carolina, 1-0 on Friday night on a goal by Hjalmar Ekdal in the 29^th minute.
• The win over UNC was the fourth against a top-5 opponent since 2003 and the Seahawks move to 7-6 against nationally-ranked opponents in the last three years.
• UNCW jumped out a 3-0 lead last Sunday (Aug. 27) against North Florida and held off the late-charging Ospreys in a 3-2, tournament-clinching win.
• On opening night (Aug. 25), Julio Moncada scored twice in a shutout victory over Jacksonville.
• On Monday, August 28, Moncada and freshman defender Hjalmar Ekdal won the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week respectively.
• After an 8-6-3 campaign last season, UNCW was picked to finish third in the CAA Preseason Coaches Poll. Moncada, Joel Bylander and Mark Lindstrom were all selected to the CAA Preseason All-Conference team.

Updated Bag Policy

Put into place starting with this weekend’s athletic events (Aug. 25-27), Virginia athletics has updated its bag policies to mirror those already in place for Scott Stadium. At Klöckner Stadium, Turf Field and Memorial Gymnasium the following procedures have been put into effect.

All guests are subject to inspection and search for prohibited items. Event staff will examine the contents of bags, jackets, pockets, or any other personal item before admitting guests to the facility. In order to expedite entrance into the facility, it is recommended that guests not bring bags to events and arrive early at the facility entrances.

Prohibited Items

• Artificial noisemakers^ – see exception below for men’s and women’s soccer games at Klöckner Stadium
• Balls, Frisbees, lacrosse sticks, and similar items
• Containers (including plastic or glass bottles, cans, coolers, or flasks)
• Food and beverages
• Strollers (except umbrella strollers) – prohibited at Scott Stadium only
• Umbrellas – prohibited at Scott Stadium only
• Weapons

^For men’s and women’s soccer matches only, artificial noisemakers are allowed; however air horns, whistles, bullhorns or devices that amplify electric sound, including battery-operated devices, are prohibited.

*The University of Virginia reserves the right to prohibit any item deemed hazardous or disruptive to the athletics event or the enjoyment of the event by other guests.

The above procedures are designed to provide a safe and positive experience for all fans in attendance at Virginia athletics events.