Virginia Set for Clash with Maryland Monday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia’ mens soccer team (2-1-0) is set to travel to College Park for a matchup with Maryland (1-1-1) at Ludwig Field on Monday (Sept. 2). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

How to Follow
Monday night’s match against Maryland will air on The Big Ten Network which is available  for customers who have the Network as part of their TV subscription. Links to both the broadcast and live stats are available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer).

The Series with Maryland

• The Cavaliers hold a 31-44-10 all-time record against Maryland (Virginia records count a 12-0 loss to Maryland in 1941 that is not reflected in Maryland’s records*)
• In recent history, the two teams are even in their last five meetings with a record of 2-2-1
• The 2023 meeting featured Maryland’s first visit to Klöckner Stadium since the Terps left the ACC in 2013. Virginia came away with a 2-1 victory.
• This season, Virginia will visit Ludwig Field for the first time since a 2015 meeting in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland won that meeting 1-0.

Replacing Top Freshmen

• Both Virginia and Maryland enter the 2024 season without two of the nation’s top freshmen from the 2023 season.
• Virginia’s Stephen Annor Gyamfi and Maryland’s Kimani Stewart-Baynes were the only two members of the 2024 draft class to sign Generation adidas contracts—Stewart-Baynes went No. 4 overall to Colorado while Annor Gyamfi went No. 26 to Houston.
• Both Annor Gyamfi and Stewart-Baynes were named Freshmen of the Year by the ACC/Big Ten. Annor Gyamfi logged 10 goals on the season while Stewart-Baynes notched three goals and seven assists.
• Annor Gyamfi was the only freshman named an All-American by the United Soccer Coaches earning a third-team selection. He became the first freshman listed on the USC All-Ameican squads since Claudio Reyna in 1991 and just the fourth Cavalier to accomplish the feat all-time (Agoos ’86, Meola ’88, Reyna ’91, Annor Gyamfi ’23).

Campus Sites

• Virginia will make the trip to Ludwig Field for the first time since the 2015 season when Virginia and Maryland battled in the NCAA Tournament. Maryland advanced by a score of 1-0
• UVA hosted Maryland in the first game contested at either team’s home stadium since 2015. That game was the first trip Maryland made to Klöckner Stadium since the 2013 season—Virginia took home a 2-1 victory in that match
• The prior four games of the series were held at Audi Field in Washington D.C. Maryland came out on top in the “Battle for the DMV” series with a record of 2-1-1.

The Virginia Standard

• Virginia recorded back-to-back five-win seasons (2022-2023) for the first time since 2005-2006
• The Cavaliers are the only team in the conference coming off back-to-back five-win seasons in ACC play
• In 2022, Virginia went unbeaten on the road in ACC play with a 3-0-1 record
• This season, the ACC features 15 teams with the addition of California, SMU and Stanford. 10 of those 15 have been ranked in the preseason top-25
• Virginia is the only team in NCAA DI coming off back-to-back top-eight seeds in the NCAA tournament
• UVA was the No. 4 seed in 2022, and the No. 7 seed in 2023
• The Cavaliers earned back-to-back top-eight seeds for the first time in the program’s history since a six-year run from 1997-2002—a run that started in George Gelnovatch’s second season as head coach

The Virginia Captains
George Gelnovatch announced a trio of Virginia captains ahead of 2024 in Paul Wiese, Albin Gashi and Umberto Pelà.

• Wiese enters the season with the most appearances in a Cavalier shirt of any player on the current roster (55). He comes off a season in which he led the team in assists (8) ranking fifth among all players in the ACC and eighth among defenders in NCAA Division I.
• Gashi has been a fixture of the UVA midfield since his arrival in 2022. Since his debut as a freshman in the 2022 season opener, he has appeared in 34 of Virginia’s 38 games while making 28 starts.
• Pelà comes of a breakout season in 2023. The sophomore made started the first 18 games of the season before missing Virginia’s third round match in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship due to injury.