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Virginia Opens Conference Play Against Duke Friday

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia’ mens soccer team (2-1-1) is set to open conference play on Friday night (Sept. 6) when the Cavaliers host Duke (2-1-1) at Klöckner Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on The ACC Network

How to Follow
Friday night’s match against Duke will air on The ACC Network which is available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app for customers who have the ACC 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 Duke

  • This matchup will mark the 95th meeting between UVA and Duke. The Cavaliers hold a 43-40-11 all-time record against the Blue Devils and are 17-15-4 under head coach George Gelnovatch
  • In their last four meetings, the Cavaliers are 0-3-1 against Duke—their last win over the Blue Devils came in 2019
  • After a 2-0 loss to Duke in 2023, Virginia went on a run of 11 games that saw the Cavaliers go 7-1-3 to finish the regular season slate.
  • The last time the two teams met at Klöckner Stadium, Virginia battled No. 2 Duke to a 0-0 draw that was the first of an eight-game unbeaten run to end the season. (PK Shootout losses officially count as draws by NCAA rule, except in the NCAA title game).

ACC Opener

  • Virginia is set to open its ACC slate against Duke for the second consecutive season.
  • The Cavaliers are the only ACC team coming off back-to-back 5+ win seasons in league play.

Last Time Out

  • Virginia traveled to Maryland for its first true road game at Ludwig Field for the first time since the 2015 season, a 1-0 loss to the Terrapins in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
  • The Cavaliers battled to a 1-1 draw with its longtime rivals as each team scored on penalty kicks in the first half.
  • Nick Dang, the lone Cavalier goalscorer, recorded his third goal in four games as a junior transfer from Lipscomb.

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.

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