CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (7-7-1, 2-3-0 ACC Spring) will play its final regular season game of the 2021 spring season on Thursday (April 8) at No. 1 Pitt (12-2, 4-1 ACC Spring). The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start and will air live on ACCNX. 

Game Coverage: ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. 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

  • Thursday will be Virginia’s fourth match against a nationally ranked opponent, all four teams have been either No. 1 or No. 2 in the country.
  • The Cavaliers have been eliminated from the ACC Spring Tournament. A Pitt victory will clinch a spot for the Panthers in the championship game against Clemson on April 17.
  • A win on Thursday would secure win No. 800 for the Virginia soccer program. The Cavaliers are looking to become the fifth program in Division I college soccer history to reach the 800-win plateau.
  • Virginia comes into the match having lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2015. Virginia hasn’t lost three-straight matches since 2003, a year where it the won the ACC Championship.

ROUND ONE

  • Thursday will be a rematch of a 3-2 extra time thriller at Klöckner Stadium in the fall in which Pitt emerged victorious on an Arturo Ordonez golden goal in the first overtime.
  • The Cavaliers erased a 2-0 first half deficit and leveled the match in the 90th minute on the first collegiate goal by Nick Berghold. It was also Berghold’s first action in a Cavalier uniform. He logged 55 minutes after initially coming on as a sub to start the second half.
  • First year Kaya Ignacio also scored his first career goal in the match finding the back of the net in the 66th minute.
  • Pitt notched its third-straight win in Charlottesville, a stretch that started with the Panthers’ first ACC Tournament win in 2018.

AGAINST PITT

  • The Cavaliers own a 7-3-1 all-time record against the Panthers in a series that was first played in 1982, a 3-0 Virginia win in Charlottesville.
  • In three previous games in Pittsburgh, the Cavaliers are unbeaten (2-0-1) in the Steel City. The Cavaliers visit Ambrose Urbanic Field for the first time since 2018, a 2-0 win on Sept. 28.
  • Since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013, Virginia owns a 5-2-1 advantage against the Panthers in ACC regular season matches.

LAST TIME OUT

  • For the second-straight match, Virginia found itself in a 2-0 hole at halftime last Friday at Louisville. Both Cardinal goals came in the first 35 minutes of the match and just 11 minutes apart beginning in the 24th minute.
  • Leo Afonso made it interesting after he converted a penalty kick after Cabrel Happi Kamseu drew a foul in the box in the 86th minute.
  • The final 45 minutes belonged to Virginia as it attempted seven of the match’s eight second half shots. Cardinal goalkeeper Detre Bell made four saves in the second stanza and survived a three-shot flurry by the Cavaliers in a four-minute span.

vs. No. 1

  • Virginia has played the No. 1 team in the country each of the last four seasons including two matches against two different No. 1 teams in 2019.
  • Under George Gelnovatch, Virginia is 6-3-4 against top-ranked foes.
  • Thursday will be only the third true road match against a No. 1 ranked team in Gelnovatch’s tenure and the first since Nov. 30, 2014, a 1-0 win at Notre Dame

NOTES/TRENDS

  • The Cavaliers dropped to 0-6 when trailing at the half. Opponents are outscoring Virginia 10-6 in the first half this season while Virginia holds a 11-5 advantage in the second half.
  • On the flip side, Virginia is 7-1 when scoring first.
  • When breaking the game into 15-minute intervals, the Cavaliers have proved to be most dangerous in the final 15 minutes of games this season. Five of the 19 Virginia goals have come between the 76th and 90th minutes. Including overtime, has scored seven times after the 76th minute.
  • Kevin Ogudugu and Leo Afonso each have two of Virginia’s last four goals. Afonso scored his first collegiate goal against Central Arkansas on a free kick and it proved to be a game-winner. Ogudugu has emerged into Virginia’s top attacking threat, registering all of his team-leading seven points (3g, 1a) in the spring season.
  • Irakoze Donasiyano is the only Cavalier to play every minute of every match this season. The 20th overall selection by Nashville SC in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft, Donasiyano has made 56-straight starts in a Virginia uniform.
  • 11 different players are responsible for the 19 Virginia goals this season.
  • Virginia’s six shutouts are the one shy of the ACC lead held by Wake Forest and North Carolina. Netminder Alex Rando is credited with five of the six clean sheets with four of them occurring in the spring season.