No. 11 Cavaliers Take on Clemson Saturday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The No. 11 Virginia men’s soccer team (8-1-4) is set to host Clemson (8-3-2) at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 25). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

How to Follow:
Saturday’s match against Clemson will Stream on ACC Network Extra which is available through the ESPN app and at WatchESPN.com 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).

For Openers: 

• The Cavaliers are set for their 62nd meeting with Clemson all-time. UVA leads the all-time series with a record of 30-25-6.
• Clemson makes its first trip to Klöckner Stadium since 2016 (T, 3-3). UVA is 11-11-3 all-time against the Tigers at home.
• Since the start of 2022, UVA has gone 15-3-7 in the month of October.
• UVA enters the game riding a 10-game unbeaten streak and are one of just seven teams in NCAA Division I with an active unbeaten streak of 10+ games. The Cavaliers have yet to lose at home this season with an unblemished 6-0-3 record at Klöckner Stadium.
• The Cavaliers remain undefeated in ACC play with a record of 3-0-3. The last time Virginia went unbeaten in ACC play was in 2001 when the team went 6-0-0.
• Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch enters his 30th season at the helm. He has amassed a record of 386-164-75 and guided the program to a pair of NCAA titles and four ACC championships.

October Hoos

• UVA has been impressive in the later stages of the regular season in recent years. Each of the last three seasons has featured lengthy hot streaks in late autumn.
• Since the start of 2022, UVA has gone 15-3-7 in October
• The 2022 season featured an eight-game unbeaten run (3-0-5) that started on Oct. 7—Virginia played six top-25 teams over that stretch before going on to earn the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
• Virginia tore off a 10-game unbeaten run (7-0-3) in 2023 en route to the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament.
• The team won five consecutive games in 2024 and six of its last seven on its way to the No. 11 seed.

NCAA Selection Committee Ranking

• The Cavaliers were ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Selection Committee’s top-16 rankings announced Friday evening (Oct. 17)
• Based on results through games of October 14, Princeton, Stanford, Virginia and Portland received the top four seeds. The top four seeds are crucial, as if the seeds hold those four teams would have the opportunity to host quarterfinal matches with a bid to the Men’s College Cup on the line.
• The ranking is based on the criteria used to select and seed the 48 teams for the Division I Men’s Soccer Championship and in no particular order includes strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, strength and results against non-conference opponents, late season performance in the last eight games and strength and results against conference opponents.

Breakout Seasons

• Both Umberto Pelà and Marco Dos Santos have each engineered breakout statistical seasons in 2025.
• Dos Santos leads the ACC and ranks sixth in NCAA Division I with eight assists on the season. That assist total is more than his total from the previous two seasons combined (6).
• As a central defensive midfielder, Umberto Pelà has recorded four goals and four assists to tie for the team lead in points.
• Pelà had combined for three goal involvements (1g, 2a) in his previous three seasons at Virginia.

Results Against Top-10 Opposition

• Virginia was tested early with a run of three consecutive matches against opponents ranked in the nation’s top-10. The Cavaliers went 2-0-1 against No. 8 Virginia Tech (T, 2-2), No. 6 Louisville (W, 1-0) and No. 1 Wake Forest (W, 6-3).
• The stretch marked the first time UVA matched up with three-straight top-10 opponents since 2022 when Virginia went 2-1-1 against No. 3 Syracuse, No. 10 Pitt, No. 10 Denver and No. 2 Duke.
• The last time UVA opened ACC play with back-to-back road matches against top-10 foes was in 2000, when No. 11 Virginia posted a 2-0 win at No. 5 Wake Forest before defeating No. 10 North Carolina 3-1 in Chapel Hill.
• UVA then went on to topple No. 2 NC State (W, 1-0) on the road.
• The Cavaliers hold a record of 97-76-39 against top-10 opposition all-time
• Since the start of 2022, Virginia has recorded 14 positive results (wins or draws) against top-10 opponents with eight of those results coming on the road:

*Opponent advanced on penalties in postseason play

The Virginia Standard

• As an 11-seed in 2024, the Cavaliers earned a first round bye in the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season.
• UVA is one of just five programs to earn first-round byes in each of the last three seasons and is the only program that earned multiple top-eight seeds in that span.
• The Cavaliers are coming off their second ACC Semifinal appearance in three seasons.