Virginia Opens NCAA Tournament with Marshall Sunday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s soccer team (10-4-4) will open up its NCAA tournament in the round of 32 when fourth-seeded Virginia hosts Marshall (11-3-3) as the Cavaliers return to NCAA tournament action for the first time since 2019 on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 20). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets are $12 for reserved seats (if available) and $8 for general admission tickets. Student tickets are available for $5. Parking passes for the JPJ West and South lots are $5 and can be purchased in advance online or at the lots on game day.

Tickets can be ordered online at UVATix.com

HOW TO FOLLOW
Saturday night’s match will be streamed on ESPN+ which is available as a subscription through ESPN.com and other streaming service providers like Hulu. Live stats will also be available for the game. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer).

FOR STARTERS

• Virginia enters the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 overall seed and is one of eight ACC teams in the field – the most of any conference
• As a top-16 seed, Virginia earned a first-round bye and enters the tournament in the second round of play
• As a top-four seed, the Cavaliers have the opportunity to host all the way until the College Cup in Cary, N.C.
• Virginia is one of two ACC Schools to earn a top-four seed, and one of four that earned a first-round bye
• Virginia is unbeaten in its last seven games with a record of 3-0-4
• Leo Afonso ranks among the nation’s premier chance creators as the striker records an average of 3.72 shots per game, the sixth-highest mark in NCAA Division I
• Virginia is unbeaten in games when Afonso has scored with a record of 6-0-1
• Afonso has tallied four game-winning goals this season, the 11^th highest total in the country
• Virginia Goalkeeper Holden Brown has recorded six or more saves in consecutive matches this season
• Brown’s eight shutouts this season ranks ninth in the NCAA this season
• Substitute Kome Ubogu is second on the team with six goals averaging 73 minutes per goal

HOOS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The Cavaliers have won the third-most NCAA titles in history with seven
• Head coach George Gelnovatch has been a part of every championship team as either a player, assistant or head coach
• Virginia returns to the NCAA Tournament after a two-season drought that ended a run of 39 consecutive appearances in the national tournament (1980-2019)
• The Cavaliers earned a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament for the 10th time in program history
• In seasons which Virginia has earned a top-four seed, it has advanced to the College Cup six times and won a pair of national championships
• Virginia has gone head-to-head with nine tournament teams this season posting a 5-2-4 record in 11 games against those teams
• In the NCAA Tournament Virginia holds an all-time record of 67-34-5
• The Cavaliers are 52-19-2 in NCAA tournament games at home

THE SERIES WITH MARSHALL

• Virginia is unbeaten against Marshall all-time with a perfect record of 6-0
• The last meeting between the two schools came in 2018 when the Cavaliers bested the Thundering Herd at home by a score of 1-0
• This will be the first meeting between the two schools in the NCAA tournament

ON DECK FOR THE WINNER

• The winner of Sunday afternoon’s match between Virginia and Marshall will advance to the sweet 16
• Waiting for the winner will be either 13-seeded Indiana or Saint Louis who play Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
• Should Virginia advance, the Cavaliers would host again in the next round