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Virginia to Host Syracuse in ACC Battle Saturday

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia’ mens soccer team (6-4-3, 2-2-2 ACC) is set to host Syracuse (6-4-3, 1-2-2 ACC) on Saturday night (Oct. 19) at the Klöckner Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ACCNX.

How to Follow
Saturday’s match against Syracuse will be streamed on ACC Network Extra (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 the Orange

  • The matchup with Boston College will mark the 11th meeting between the two programs all-time. Virginia owns a 5-2-3 advantage in the series and are 2-1-2 against the Orange at home.
  • The Cavaliers have matched up with Syracuse in the ACC tournament in each of the past two seasons. Both contests ended in draws, but Syracuse advanced on penalties each time.

Finding a Way

  • The Cavaliers enter the game on their longest winning streak of the season with four consecutive victories including a pair of ranked opponents (No. 19 Virginia Tech/No. 8 JMU). The team’s last three matches have shown off its ability to find winning results in the face of adversity.
  • Virginia took a pair of 1-0 victories from JMU and Boston College. The former required UVA’s first game-winning goal in the 90th minute since a 1-0 result against New Hampshire in 2018. The latter was earned in a notoriously difficult away fixture that featured clutch performances from Nick Dang and Joey Batrouni to score the winning goal, and close out the game defensively.
  • Back at Klöckner Stadium, the Cavaliers found themselves facing a 2-0 deficit against American just 13 minutes into the match. On the back of a five-point performance from substitute, Kome Ubogu, UVA came back to win from 2-0 down for the first time since the 2012 season with a 4-2 victory.

Defensive Class

  • Virginia ranks third in the ACC and 26th in NCAA Division I with a team goals against average of just .846.
  • Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni ranks fourth in the ACC with a save percentage of .771

Wiese Makes History

  • Virginia captain Paul Wiese broke into the UVA record books the record books with his career assist tally
  • Currently at 22, Wiese ranks No. 10 all-time in the category at Virginia
  • He becomes the first player to crack a top-10 list for a career total in an offensive stat category since Will Bates (2009-12) who ranks in Virginia’s top 10 in points (102), Goals (46), Shots (230), and game-winning goals (15).

Early Autumn Streaks

  • Both of the previous two seasons featured lengthy unbeaten runs that were kickstarted in late September and early October.
  • In 2022, Virginia started the season with a 4-3-0 record through its first seven games.
  • The Cavalier season would later feature an eight-game unbeaten run (3-0-5) that started on Oct. 7—Virginia played six top-25 teams over that stretch.
  • Virginia went on to earn the No. 4 overall seed in the 2022 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
  • In 2023, the Cavaliers started 4-3-1 in their first eight games.
  • Virginia tore off a 10-game unbeaten run (7-0-3) that started on Sept. 26.
  • The Cavaliers would earn the No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.

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

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