MSOC Game Notes | 2019 Soccer Ticket Information | 2019 Schedule | Clear Bag Policy | 2019 Fact Book | Virginia Athletics Master Plan
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 12th-ranked Virginia men’s soccer team will commence its 2019 season on Friday (Aug. 30) when it hosts Pacific at Klöckner Stadium. The match is part of a single-admission doubleheader with the Virginia women’s team that begins at 5:30. The men are scheduled to start at 8 p.m.
Game Coverage: Friday night’s game will air live on ACCNX which streams live on the ESPN App and is available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network. Links for the live stream and in-game live stats will be available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the Virginia men’s soccer official twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer) for in-game updates.
ACC Network Information: https://virginiasports.com/sports/2019/8/28/acc-network.aspx
TICKET INFORMATION
For all regular season home games, reserved single-game tickets can be purchased for $8 online and in advance, and $10 at the box office on game day. General admission single-game tickets are $5 online and in advance, and $8 at the box office on game day.
Soccer season tickets are only available for delivery either as mobile or print-at-home, however upon request and in person only including at the game day ticket office an option for point-of-sale paper stock printing is available for $10 per account. Fans are encouraged to take advantage of discounted single game pricing by purchasing tickets in advance and using mobile ticketing options or printing their tickets at home.
The first 500 fans who purchased season tickets will receive confirmation by email and can pick up their free Virginia Soccer scarf at any of the first three home matches.
FOR STARTERS
• Friday will mark the start of the 76th season of men’s soccer at Virginia.
• Virginia and Pacific will meet for the first time on Friday night. The Cavaliers have faced six of the current West Coast Conference members and own a 9-3 record against the league all-time.
• Cavalier head coach George Gelnovatch enters his 24th season at the helm, the longest tenured coach in program history.
• Virginia has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 38 seasons, the longest streak in the history of collegiate soccer. The Cavaliers have won seven national championships including two under Gelnovatch (2009 & 2014).
THE OPENER
• Virginia will open up at home for the seventh-straight season and hold a 17-6 record under Gelnovatch in season-opening games.
• Friday will be only the second time in the last six years it has not squared off against a ranked opponent. Pacific, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, is currently receiving votes in the Preseason United Soccer Coaches Poll.
• The last two season-opening games have come down to the wire with a last-minute victory over then-No. 15 New Hampshire last season and a 3-2 overtime thriller against then-No.13 Villanova in 2017.
• Every opener since 2010 has been decided by a goal and includes three extra-time contests.
KLÖCKNER ADVANTAGE
• Klöckner Stadium has been the home of Virginia soccer for the past 27 seasons.
• Virginia has won over 80 percent of its matches at home since 1992, posting a 284-58-27 record at the facility.
• Friday will be the 28th anniversary of the stadium’s opening. In a rematch of the 1991 National Championship, Virginia hosted Santa Clara in an exhibition match on Aug. 30, 1992 that drew 6,142 fans.
PRESEASON NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Virginia comes into the 2019 season ranked 12th in the country by the United Soccer Coaches, the highest preseason ranking since 2015 when it ranked 2nd after winning the program’s seventh National Championship in the fall prior.
• The Cavaliers come in at No. 13 in the College Soccer News and No. 15 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com polls.
2019 PRESEASON POLL
• For the third-straight season, Virginia was picked to finish second in the Coastal Division in a poll of the league’s 12 head coaches.
• The Cavaliers were one of four teams (UNC, Duke & Wake Forest) to receive a first place vote for the league’s overall champion.
HOOS BACK
• The Cavaliers return 15 letterwinners including eight of 11 starters from last season.
• Headed by junior Nathaniel Crofts (4g, 6a), six of the top seven point scorers from 2018 are on this year’s roster. Virginia returns 83 percent of its scoring (20 of 24 goals) along with goalkeepers Colin Shutler and Marcel DaSilva.
PLAYER TO WATCH
• Junior Joe Bell was featured on the first-ever preseason ACC Watch List, comprised of one representative from each school and voted upon as part of the league’s preseason coaches poll.
• The midfielder was also listed on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Best XI Second Team.
• Last season, Bell earned United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Region and Third Team All-ACC honors in 2018.
• He was one of two Cavaliers to play every minute of last year’s 17 matches and was second on the team with five assists.
DECORATED SECOND YEARS
• Virginia set an ACC record with four honorees on the ACC All-Freshman team in 2018.
• Second years Daryl Dike, Cabrel Happi Kamseu and Daniel Steedman are all back for their sophomore campaigns. Dike and Happi Kamseu led the Cavaliers with five goals each. Steedman added a pair of goals both in conference play.
• Defender Aboubacar Keita signed a homegrown contract with the Columbus Crew SC and has appeared in six MLS matches through last Sunday.
ABOUT PACIFIC
• 2019 will be the start of the Adam Reeves era at Pacific after Ryan Jorden left to take the head coach job at UCLA.
• Last season the Tigers were eliminated by Duke in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, a 1-0 loss in Durham, N.C.
• This year’s club was picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference in a poll of the league’s head coaches.
• The Tigers return forward Jonathan Jimenez who was a Second Team All-WCC selection last season but will have to replace three first team honorees including 2018 WCC Player of the Year Camden Riley (9g, 5a). Jimenez totaled 21 points as a junior with eight goals and a team-best five assists.