Virginia Cavaliers Official Athletic Site
Open Search
Men's Soccer
. Men's Soccer

Cavaliers Set for Clash with Wake Forest Friday

Game Notes
Watch (ACCN)
Live Stats
Virginia Twitter
Virginia Instagram
Virginia Facebook
Get the UVA Sports App

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia’ mens soccer team (2-2-1, 0-1-0 ACC) is set to travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. for a Friday night match (Sept. 6) with Wake Forest (2-2-1, 0-0-0 ACC) at Spry Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

How to Follow
Friday night’s match against Wake Forest will be streamed on ACCNX which is available on WatchESPN.com 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 Wake Forest

  • Friday night’s matchup will mark the 63rd meeting between UVA and Wake Forest. The Cavaliers hold a 40-14-8 all-time record against the Demon Deacons and are 24-12-6 under head coach George Gelnovatch.
  • In their last five meetings, the Cavaliers are 4-1-0 against Wake Forest.
  • The last time the teams met at Spry Stadium, Wake Forest took a 3-0 win (11/3/21)—Virginia is 14-6-3 all-time in road matches with Wake Forest.

Suffocating Defense

  • Through five games in 2024, Virginia opponents have managed just five shots on goal.
  • Cavalier opponents have managed just two goals from open play this season on just five total shots on target.
  • Overall, Virginia has outshot its opponents by a margin of 71-28 for the season.
  • Virginia is tied among ACC teams for the lowest overall goals-against average (0.6)

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.

Related Stories