Virginia Travels to Wake Forest for ACC Quarterfinal

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (2-3-1) will open up ACC Tournament play with a quarterfinal matchup at top-seeded Wake Forest (7-1) on Sunday (Nov. 15). The match will be broadcast live on ACC Network and is slated for a 4 p.m. start.

Game Coverage: ACC network is available through participating TV providers. For more information on how to get ACC Network, visit GetACCN.com. Links for the live stream and in-game live stats will be available on VirginiaSports.com. Note, only subscribers of ACC Network will be able to stream the match through the ESPN app. Fans can also follow the Virginia men’s soccer official twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer) for in-game updates.

FOR STARTERS

• The Cavaliers go into the ACC Tournament as the fourth seed out of the North Region after a 2-3-1 regular season record.
• Virginia is seeking its first road win on Sunday in just their third road game of the season, only Notre Dame has played fewer away games (1) than the Cavaliers.
• With a victory on Sunday, George Gelnovatch is seeking his 341^st career win that would move into sole possession of 10^th place on the NCAA’s active win list.
• Virginia is unbeaten against Wake Forest in ACC (15-0-5) and NCAA (3-0) Tournament action.
• Sunday will mark Virginia’s first visit to Spry Stadium since a 1-0 overtime loss in the 2016 ACC regular season. The last Virginia victory in Winston-Salem was came in 2013, a 1-0 win in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
• The winner of Sunday’s match will move on to play the winner of Virginia Tech and Clemson.

AGAINST THE DEMON DEACONS

• Virginia and Wake Forest played twice last season, both meetings occurring in the postseason. The Cavaliers ousted the Demon Deacons in the ACC Semifinals with a 1-0 victory at Klöckner Stadium and followed it up with a 2-1 win in the NCAA College Cup Semifinals in Cary, N.C.
• The Demon Deacons 5-3-2 against the Cavaliers in the last 10 meetings.
• From 2010 to 2013 the two programs met each year in the ACC Quarterfinals, three matches went to extra time and the 2012 meeting ended with the Cavaliers advancing on penalty kicks.
• The two teams feature head coaches ranked in the top-12 in career winning percentage among active head coaches. Gelnovatch ranks eighth (.693) and Bobby Muuss is tied for 12^th (.675)

HOW WE GOT HERE

• For the first time in program history, Virginia started its season with four-straight overtime matches, with the first three occurring in a nine-day span.
• The Cavaliers recorded victories over Louisville and Syracuse while picking up a point on the road at Virginia Tech.
• Virginia was shutout for the first time since 2018 in its season finale against Virginia Tech, relegating the Cavaliers to the fourth seed in the ACC North Region.
• Two of the three Cavalier losses have come in extra time. The Cavaliers erased a 2-0 deficit against Pitt before losing on a first OT golden goal and blew a 1-0 lead before succumbing to Notre Dame on an own goal in the 103^rd minute.
• The 1-0 loss in the regular season finale against in-state foe Virginia Tech snapped a 16-game unbeaten streak against the Hokies.

VIRGINIA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT
•  The Cavaliers own the most wins (45), goals (116), semifinals appearances (27), finals appearances (20) and tournament titles (11) in 33 years of the ACC Tournament.

• Including last year’s ACC title run, Virginia has been in the ACC Championship game, two of the last three seasons.
  • Under George Gelnovatch, Virginia has won five ACC Tournament Championships (1997, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2019) in his 25-year tenure.
  • Virginia is 45-19-12 in ACC Tournament games.
• The Cavaliers will not play an ACC Tournament home game for the first time since 2015.

SEASON MILESTONES

• George Gelnovatch became the fastest coach to 90 ACC wins and only the third coach ever to reach the 90-win plateau with a 2-1 overtime win over Syracuse on Oct. 30.
• The Cavaliers season opener of the 2020 season also served as the program’s 300^th win at Klöckner Stadium, a 2-1 double overtime win over Louisville on Oct. 9.

MISSING PIECES

• The Cavaliers have gone without preseason All-American goalkeeper Colin Shutler and the team’s leading returning scorer in Nathaniel Crofts for the majority of Fall. Shutler has missed the last three matches while Crofts hasn’t played since opening night.
• In Virginia’s loss to Virginia Tech, Virginia starting XI included just four starters (Andreas Ueland, Bret Halsey, Axel Gunnarsson, Irakoze Donasiyano) from the National Championship game last year.
• The Cavaliers have used six different lineup combinations in six matches this year.

TRENDING

• Senior Irakoze Donasiyano has started in 47-straight games for the Cavaliers, the longest active streak on the team. Dating back to last season, Donasiyano has played in 888 consecutive minutes of action.
• Andreas Ueland has played every minute of his college career (2,813) and has started 30 matches in a row for the Cavaliers.
• Along with Ueland and Donasiyano, Bret Halsey and Oliver Gerbig have not come off the field in six matches this season.
• Virginia has out-possessed its opponent in five of its six matches this season.
• Of the 10 teams ranked in TopDrawerSoccer.com’s weekly Power Rankings, Virginia is ranked 10th UVA has been as high as No. 1 (Sept. 21) this Fall.
• Redshirt freshman Alex Rando has made the last three starts in goal for the Cavaliers. He was credited with his first career shutout against Syracuse on Oct. 30, the first UVA clean sheet since the first UVA Third Round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

BREAKING DOWN HOOS SCORING

• All seven goals by Virginia this season have been scored by different goal scorers and no one on the team has scored multiple goals in 2020.
• Three of the seven UVA goals have come off set pieces, two off penalty kicks.
• Penalty kick goals against Louisville (10/9) and Syracuse (10/30) proved to be game-winners.
• Andreas Ueland, who’s PK against Syracuse on Oct. 30 proved to the game-winner, was the third Cavalier to attempt a PK this season (most since 2013).
• Five of Virginia’s seven goals have come in the 60th minute or later and only one in the first half.