Virginia Hosts Pitt in Top-Five Showdown at Klöckner Stadium on Sunday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Fifth-ranked Virginia (1-0-1, 1-0-1 ACC) will host No. 2 Pittsburgh (3-0-0, 2-0-0 ACC) in an ACC North Region matchup at Klöckner Stadium on Sunday night (Oct. 18). The contest will air live on ACCX at 7:30 p.m.

Due to health and safety considerations in addition to the current guidelines established for sports venues by the Commonwealth of Virginia, attendance at UVA home competitions is limited to family of student-athletes and each team’s coaching staff until further notice. There is no public admission to these events and all tailgating in University parking lots is prohibited.

Game Coverage

ACCNX streams via the ESPN App and is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network. Information on cable providers that currently carry ACC Network can be found on GetACCN.com. Direct links for the live stream and in-game live stats are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the Virginia men’s soccer official twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer) for in-game updates.

For Starters

• Pitt and Virginia are in first place (four points) and second place (three points), respectively in the ACC North Region. A victory for the Cavaliers would land them in sole possession of first place in the ACC North at the midway point of the ACC regular season.
• Virginia carries an eight-game win streak at Klöckner Stadium that dates back to last season.
• The Cavaliers come into Sunday unbeaten in their last eight matches (7-0-1) against ACC opponents (including postseason) dating back to 2019. The streak began after a 2-0 loss at home to Pitt at Klöckner Stadium Oct. 18, 2019.
• Head Coach George Gelnovatch is seeking his 90th career ACC regular season victory and looking to become only the third coach in ACC history with 90 league wins.
• After Sunday, Virginia will have played half of its six-game ACC-only regular season in nine days.
• Virginia is 4-1 against its last five matches against teams ranked in the top-five. Its only loss, the National Championship game against then-No. 3 Georgetown last season that ended in a PK shootout.

TECH TIE

• Virginia earned a point after a 1-1 draw in Blacksburg on Friday night. Joan Gibert Fuertes scored his first goal as a Cavalier just 1:26 seconds after the Hokies grabbed the initial lead in the 76^th minute.
• Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities in the match, including Irakoze Donasiyano’s penalty kick attempt in the 61^st minute.
• The Hokies outshot Virginia 23-11 but only five shots landed on target compared to Virginia’s four shots on goal.
• Virginia is unbeaten in its last 16 matches (10-0-6) against their Commonwealth foe.

PANTHER UPSETS

• Virginia has two losses in the last 17 games at Klöckner Stadium, both 2-0 setbacks at the hands of Pitt.
• Last season, the Panthers upset the then-No. 1 ranked Cavaliers at Klöckner Stadium, one of two losses all year en route to the program’s ninth appearance in the National Championship game.
• In 2018, Pitt shocked Virginia in the first round of the ACC Tournament. It was Virginia’s earliest exit in the tournament and Pitt’s first ever win over the Cavaliers.

THE HEAD COACHES

• Pitt’s Jay Vidovich (303 wins) and Virginia’s George Gelnovatch (339 wins) are two of 20 active head coaches with 300-plus career wins.
• Gelnovatch and Vidovich rank third and fifth, respectively, all-time in career wins while coaching the ACC.
• Head to head, Gelnovatch owns a 23-11-6 edge over Vidovich in his time at Wake Forest (21-9-5) and now Pitt (2-2-1)

LATE MATCH FIREWORKS

• Virginia has yet to score a goal or concede a goal in the first half of both of its matches this season.
• In 2019, Virginia allowed four goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation. This season, Louisville evened the match on Oct. 9 in the 90^th minute while Virginia Tech scored a go-ahead score on Wednesday (Oct. 14) in the 76^th minute.
• A penalty kick drawn by freshman Leo Afonso and converted by Philip Horton against Louisville proved to the latest goal by the Cavaliers since Jean-Christophe Koffi’s game-winner against Pitt on Oct. 20, 2017.

Latest Cavalier Goals since 2005

11/8/11 vs. WF – Brian Span (109:40)

9/5/08 vs. George Mason – Brian Ownby (109:17)

9/29/09 vs. VCU – Chris Agorsor (109:00)

10/9/20 vs. Louisville – Philip Horton (108:56)

10/1/13 vs. VCU – Eric Bird (106:40)

10/20/17 vs. Pitt – Jean-Christophe Koffi (106:30)

National Picture

• Virginia is ranked fifth for the third-straight week and has been ranked in the top 5 in all but one week since Sept. 17, 2019. The last time the Cavaliers were outside the top-5 was after dropping a 2-0 decision to Pittsburgh last season.
• In the first United Soccer Coaches poll of the fall (Sept. 22), Virginia was ranked No. 3 in the country. Despite not playing a match, the Cavaliers have slipped to No. 5 in the last two polls.
• Virginia has been ranked in the top five in the United Soccer Coaches Poll in all but one week since Sept. 17, 2019
• Virginia opened the season as the nation’s top team in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Power Rankings and were dropped to No. 4 in its latest rankings (Oct. 15).

RUN FOR 90

• George Gelnovatch seeking 90th career ACC win and would be the fastest coach in ACC history to 90 ACC regular season wins.
• Only two other coaches in ACC history have reached the 90-win mark.

John Rennie (Duke)       95 wins in 29 seasons

I.M. Ibrahim (Clemson) 90 wins in 28 seasons

George Gelnovatch (Virginia)     89 wins in 25 seasons

300 AND BEYOND

• Virginia’s season-opening, 2-0 double overtime win over Louisville on Oct. 9 was also the 300th for the program at Klöckner Stadium.
• Virginia has won 81 percent (300-59-27) of its matches at Klöckner Stadium since its opening in 1992.
• Virginia went 15-1 at Klöckner Stadium in 2019, the most home wins of any team in the country and tied for the most in school history (1995).
• Klöckner Stadium has hosted an NCAA Tournament match in all 28 years of its existence.
• The Cavaliers are 40-12-2 (.759) at Klöckner in the NCAA postseason.