No. 3 Virginia Travels to No. 21 Notre Dame Saturday
Watch | Live Stats | UVA Game Notes | Ticket Information
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 3 Virginia (7-0, 2-0 ACC) continues Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday morning (Sept. 28) with a road match at No. 21 Notre Dame (4-2-1, 0-2 ACC). The contest is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will air live on ACCNX.
Game Coverage: ACCNX streams via 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.
Ticket Information: Notre Dame soccer tickets can be purchased online here. Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for youth/seniors. Alumni Stadium is located east of Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center and five-minute walk from Notre Dame Stadium (football).
FOR STARTERS
• Virginia comes into Friday’s match on a seven-game win streak, its longest since 2006 when it won eight-straight to start the season.
• The Cavaliers moved into the top-3 in the United Soccer Coaches poll for the first time since 2015.
• Notre Dame will be the Cavaliers third ranked foe of the season (No. 1 Maryland & No. 2 Duke).
• Virginia is one of eight unbeaten and untied teams (Cal State Fullerton, SMU, Clemson, Missouri State, Stanford, Navy, Saint Mary’s,) remaining in college soccer and one of two in the ACC (Clemson).
• The Cavaliers have the lowest goals against average (0.14) in the country and are the only team in the nation to concede just one goal in 2019.
• Virginia is 2-0 in ACC for the first time since 2008 when it won its first four against NC State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Clemson.
• Friday’s match will be the second of four true road games this fall. Including the neutral site matches against Maryland, the Cavaliers are 5-0-1 in their last six matches regular season away from Klöckner Stadium.
CURRENT WINNING STREAK
• Virginia has seven winning streaks of seven or more games under head coach George Gelnovatch. Two of those streaks occurred when associate head coach Matt Chulis was a student-athlete at Virginia (1997 & 1998).
Win Streaks Under Gelnovatch
16 games – 2001
9 games – 2004, 2002, 1996
8 games – 2006, 1997
7 games – 2019
Win Streaks to Start Season (All-Time)
14 games – 1992, 1987
12 games – 1985
11 games – 1993, 1989
8 games – 2006, 1982, 1969
7 games – 2019
GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Against Western Michigan on Monday night (Sept. 23), Virginia allowed just two shots and none on target. In the last two games (WMU & NC State, the Cavaliers have allowed just one shot on goal and a total of six shot attempts.
• Virginia did not allow a NC State shot attempt for the first 80 minutes of last Friday night’s win. The four Wolfpack shots in the contest all came in the final 10 minutes including its lone shot on goal.
• Virginia has held four of its seven opponents this season to single-digit shots, including five against No. 1 Maryland, the fewest shots by the Terps since Nov. 17, 2013, also against the Cavaliers.
• For the third time in the 76-year history of the program, Virginia has yielded only one goal in its first seven games (1985, 2018).
• The six shutouts for the Cavaliers are the most in the ACC. No other ACC school has conceded less than three goals in 2019.
• The Cavaliers haven’t allowed a goal in the last 357:26 minutes of play.
CAPTAIN’S IMPACT
• Captains Robin Afamefuna and Joe Bell have been mainstays on the pitch for the Cavaliers in recent years. Bell has started every game of his career, a span of 45 matches while Afamefuna has started 30-consecutive matches.
• The duo has been on the field for every minute of the last 24 games, a stretch that includes 17 wins and 15 shutouts.
FAMILIAR FOE
• Friday will be a rematch of the 2018 NCAA Third Round game that saw Notre Dame score the game-winning goal in the final second of the first overtime.
• The two programs have met three times in the NCAA Tournament (2019, 2014, 2006). The Cavaliers had won both previous postseason matchups until last season
• Virginia has squared off against Notre Dame more than any other program since 2013. The two teams have met each other multiple times in five of the last six seasons including three times in 2014.
• The Cavaliers own a 7-4-4 advantage in the all-time series are 3-4-3 in the last 10 meetings.
• After Notre Dame won the 2013 National Championship, Virginia dashed hopes of a repeat with a 1-0 victory in the third round and went on to win the 2014 title.