Virginia Travels to New York to Take on No. 3 Syracuse

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s soccer team (5-3, 1-1 ACC) is set to take on No. 3 Syracuse (7-0-1, 2-0 ACC) in ACC action Saturday night (Sept. 24) at SU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Saturday night’s match against No. 3 Syracuse will be streamed on ACCNX which is available through the ESPN app and at WatchESPN.com for customers who have the ACC Network as a part of their television subscription. Live stats are also available and links to both the live stats and broadcast are available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer).

MATCH NOTES

• Virginia will play its first true road match of the season at Syracuse. The only other match the Cavaliers have played away from Klöckner Stadium this season was against Maryland at Audi Field in Washington D.C.
• The Cavaliers are currently second in the ACC in goals with 20, a mark that ranks as the sixth-highest total in the NCAA this season
• Leo Afonso leads the ACC in shots with 35
• Kome Ubogu leads the Cavaliers in goals this season after scoring his fifth against American
• A total of 11 different Cavaliers have tallied an assist this season, Moritz Kappelsberger and Daniel Mangarov lead the team with two each
• The Cavaliers have outshot their opponents by a staggering margin of 137-61 registering 17.1 per game
• A total of 11 different Cavaliers have registered goals this season, a total that is second only to Wake Forest’s 13 within the ACC
• Of Virginia’s 20 goals scored this season, none have featured a repeat combination of players scoring and assisting
• A total of 11 different Cavaliers have tallied assists this season
• The Cavaliers have been threatening when earning set pieces this season as they have scored six goals off them this season

AGAINST THE ORANGE

• Saturday’s match will be just the seventh meeting between Virginia and Syracuse, UVA leads the series 4-2-1
• George Gelnovatch has been at the helm for Virginia in each of the previous meetings
• Virginia has entered a match against Syracuse trailing the Orange in the polls on two occasions in series history. The Cavaliers are 1-0-1 in those matches.
• The last time an unranked Cavalier squad faced off with a top-25 Syracuse side was in the first-ever meeting between the programs in 2013. Unranked Virginia defeated No. 24 Syracuse by a score of 2-0
• At least one team has been ranked in the top 25 in five of the seven meetings between the two
• In the last two games against the Orange, captains Leo Afonso and Andreas Uealand registered goals against Syracuse
• Afonso found the back of the net last season (9/10/21) while Andreas Ueland netted the game-winning goal two seasons ago (10/30/20)
• Virginia has played against the Orange on the road just three times holding a 2-1 record in those games

NOTING SYRACUSE

• Syracuse enters the match with a record of 7-0-1 and a 2-0 mark in ACC play
• The Orange are ranked No. 3 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, their highest ranking since the 2016 season
• The Orange became the first team to defeat formerly top-ranked and reigning national champion, Clemson, after a 2-1 victory over the tigers
• The Orange have conceded just two goals on the season

ON THE HORIZON

The Cavaliers will travel to No. 8 Pittsburgh on Friday (Sept. 30) at 7 p.m. before returning home to Klöckner Stadium for a 6 p.m. matchup with No. 11 Denver on Tuesday (Oct. 4).