Virginia Set to Face No. 2 Clemson in ACC Semifinal

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Fresh off a 2-0 win over top-seeded Wake Forest on Sunday (Nov. 15), Virginia (3-3-1) will square off against No. 2 Clemson (6-2-1) on Wednesday (Nov. 18) in the semifinal round of the 2020 ACC Championship, a rematch of last year’s ACC title game. The neutral site contest taking place in Chapel Hill, N.C. will air live on ACC Network at 6 p.m.

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

• Wednesday will be a rematch of the 2019 ACC Championship game in which Clemson and Virginia were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country, respectively. The Cavaliers won their 11^th tournament crown after a 3-1 comeback win in Cary, N.C.
• Clemson comes into Wednesday as the No. 2 ranked team in the country and is the third seed out of the South Region. The Tigers upset Virginia Tech on Sunday, 4-1 in Durham, N.C.
• Coming in as the No. 2 team in the country according to the United Soccer Coaches Poll, Clemson is the third top-5 opponent Virginia will face this season. The Cavaliers are 1-1 against top-5 opponents this year and went 4-1 against top-5 opponents last season.
• The winner of Wednesday’s match will play the winner of Pittsburgh and Notre Dame on Sunday (Nov. 22) in Cary, N.C. Pitt and Notre Dame will play at 8 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday night also on ACC Network.

POSTSEASON PLAYER

• It took just one minute and 18 seconds for Cabrel Happi Kamseu to make an impact in the quarterfinal victory over Wake Forest. Shortly after checking in, Happi Kamseu scored his first goal of the season and what would eventually the game-winner on Sunday in the 31^st minute.
• He went on to score his second goal of the match in the 52^nd minute intercepting a pass deep in the Demon Deacon zone before chipping it over the goalkeeper’s head. He vaulted himself into the team lead in goals (2) and points (4)
• Happi Kamseu became the Cavaliers’ first multiple goal scorer since Daryl Dike’s brace against the same Wake Forest program in the semifinals of the 2019 College Cup.
• The appearance was Happi Kamseu’s second of the season, his only other action coming in a start at Virginia Tech on Oct. 14. He logged 50 minutes of action.
• The two goals were his second and third ACC Tournament goals of his career. He scored the game-winner in the 2019 ACC Championship match against Clemson and earned a spot on the ACC All-Tournament Team
• Happi Kamseu now has nine career goals, second most on the team to Nathaniel Crofts’ 11.

QUARTERFINAL RECAP

• Virginia logged its first road win and second clean sheet of the season with a 2-0 upset win over Wake Forest on Sunday night.
• Coming into the match, Wake Forest’s 18 goals were the most by any ACC team this Fall.
• Virginia out-shot the Demon Deacons, 11-10 and held 55 percent of the game’s possession. Of the 11 shot attempts by the Cavaliers landed seven on target compared to just two by Wake Forest.
• The Cavaliers improved to 16-0-5 against Wake Forest all-time in the ACC Tournament.

ROSTER REINFORCEMENTS

• Virginia welcomed captain Nathaniel Crofts and All-American goalkeeper Colin Shutler back to the lineup on Sunday. Crofts logged 73 minutes in his first action since the opening match of the season against Louisville. Shutler missed three games and made his first start since Oct. 18.
• Sophomore Jeremy Verley, who appeared three games off the bench as a freshman and saw his first action of 2020 in the season finale against Virginia Tech made his first start of his career in the ACC Quarterfinal. He played all but nine minutes in Sunday’s victory.
• In the regular season finale against Virginia Tech, Virginia’s starting XI included just four starters (Andreas Ueland, Bret Halsey, Axel Gunnarsson, Irakoze Donasiyano) from the National Championship game last year.

VIRGINIA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT

• The Cavaliers own the most wins (46), goals (118), semifinals appearances (28), 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 46-19-12 in ACC Tournament games.
• The Cavaliers will not play an ACC Tournament home game for the first time since 2015.

TRENDING

• For their efforts in the quarterfinal round, Happi Kamseu and Andreas Ueland were named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week. Ueland was listed for the third time in his young career while Happi Kamseu got the nod for the first time.
• Virginia improved to 2-1 when scoring two or more goals this season and in the program’s history, have never lost when scoring two or more goals in an ACC Tournament match (34 occasions).
• Nathaniel Crofts has scored five goals in postseason play over the course of his career, two in the ACC Tournament and three in the NCAA Tournament. His five game-winning goals in 2019 were the second most in the ACC.
• Colin Shutler registered his 24^th career shutout, tying him with Diego Restrepo for the third most in UVA history. His 24 shutouts are the second most among active NCAA goalkeepers (Enrique Facusse, Kentucky – 29).
• Senior Irakoze Donasiyano has started in 48-straight games for the Cavaliers, the longest active streak on the team. Dating back to last season, Donasiyano has played in 978 consecutive minutes of action.
• Andreas Ueland has played every minute of his college career (2,903) and has started 31 matches in a row for the Cavaliers. Last year he became one of nine UVA freshmen to start every game on one of UVA’s 13 College Cup teams and is one of two first years to have played every minute of every match on a UVA College Cup squad.
• Along with Ueland and Donasiyano, Bret Halsey and Oliver Gerbig have not come off the field in seven matches this season.
• Virginia has out-possessed its opponent in six of its seven matches this season.

BREAKING DOWN HOOS SCORING

• With nine goals on the season, the Cavaliers have put forth eight different goal scorers. Happi Kamseu is the only multiple goal scorer on the team and he scored them both in the same game.
• Three of the nine 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 served as a game-winner, was the third Cavalier to attempt a PK this season (most since 2013).
• The three Cavalier penalty kick attempts are the most of an NCAA team this fall.
• Five of Virginia’s nine goals have come in the 60th minute or later and only one in the first half.