Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer

The Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represent the University of Virginia in all NCAA Division I men's soccer competitions. The Virginia Cavaliers are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
2023 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team
Founded1941; 83 years ago (1941)
UniversityUniversity of Virginia
Athletic directorCarla Williams
Head coachGeorge Gelnovatch (28th season)
ConferenceACC
Coastal Division
LocationCharlottesville, Virginia
StadiumKlöckner Stadium
(Capacity: 7,100)
NicknameCavaliers, Wahoos
ColorsOrange and blue[1]
   
Home
Away
NCAA Tournament championships
1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2014
NCAA Tournament runner-up
1997, 2019
NCAA Tournament College Cup
1983, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2019
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
1969, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2019
Conference Regular Season championships
1969, 1970, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2019

Virginia has an extensive reputation as one of the most elite collegiate soccer programs of the United States.[2] The program has produced several prominent United States national team players such as Claudio Reyna, John Harkes, Jeff Agoos, Ben Olsen, and Tony Meola. Future U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena coached Virginia to five College Cup titles in a six-year period during the 1980s and 1990s, and his protégé George Gelnovatch has since guided the Cavaliers to six College Cups and four championship games, winning two of them.[3]

The Cavaliers made the College Cup tournament bracket for a record 39 consecutive years, which ended in 2020, the most of any team in the history of the sport. The program has won seven NCAA Championships (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2014) and have the most national titles of any program since 1990. Virginia ranks third overall in the sport's championship history since 1959.

History

edit

The University of Virginia first fielded a varsity men's soccer team in 1941 as a member of the Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association. In their first season, the team posted a winless record, losing all nine of their matches. The Atlantic Coast Conference added soccer in 1955, followed by the first NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship in 1959. The team made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1969.

Bruce Arena became Virginia's soccer and assistant lacrosse coach in 1978, moving exclusively to soccer in 1985. The Cavaliers' first tournament victory, over William and Mary in 1983 (a team featuring future comedian Jon Stewart), sparked a run to their first College Cup appearance.

The Cavaliers have qualified for the NCAA tournament every year since 1981; those 39 appearances are a record for men's soccer and one of the longest streaks in any NCAA sport. Their apex came in the late 1980s to early 1990s under Arena, when the team won five national collegiate championships in the span of six years. Future U.S. men's national team stars such as John Harkes and Claudio Reyna were members of these championship teams.

Virginia's first championship, in 1989, came in one of the most famous games in the history of college soccer. Played at Rutgers University on December 3 against Santa Clara, the wind chill was ten degrees below zero at kickoff and fell further during the game. Virginia led the defensive slugfest 1–0 before a rare mistake from Curt Onalfo in the 84th minute allowed Santa Clara to send the game to overtime. As NCAA rules had recently changed to limit games to one 30-minute overtime followed by a 30-minute sudden-death period – after the 1985 final required eight 10-minute extra periods – and did not allow penalty kicks in the final, Virginia and Santa Clara were declared co-champions when the game remained tied 1–1 after 150 minutes.[4]

The Cavaliers went on to win the 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 editions of the tournament, and as the first overall seed were upset in the semifinals in 1995. The four consecutive championships remains an NCAA record; no other team managed even three in a row until Stanford did so in 2017.

Arena departed for the new men's professional league Major League Soccer in 1996, where he led D.C. United to three MLS Cup titles, two Supporters' Shields and a CONCACAF Champions League title. He was replaced by longtime assistant George Gelnovatch, who remains the coach today. Gelnovatch returned the team to the 1997 final, where they lost 2–0 to UCLA.

After a string of early-round exits in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the team returned to the College Cup in 2006 and the national championship game in 2009. Playing against the upstart Akron Zips that year, the Cavaliers were able to prevail in a penalty kick shootout to claim their sixth NCAA title, and their first national championship since the Arena years. Virginia added a seventh NCAA championship by defeating UCLA in a shootout in the 2014 tournament.

Players

edit

Current roster

edit
As of January 26, 2024[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK   USA Joey Batrouni
00 GK   USA Caleb Tunks
1 GK   USA Scott Williams
2 DF   USA William Citron
3 MF   USA Max Talley
4 DF   GER Paul Wiese
5 DF   USA Aidan O'Connor
7 FW   BRA Leo Afonso
8 MF   USA Brendan Lambe
9 FW   GHA Stephen Annor Gyamfi
10 MF   NOR Axel Ahlander
11 MF   SEN Mouhameth Thiam
12 MF   SWE Albin Gashi
13 FW   USA Cesar Cordova
15 FW   USA Triton Beauvois
16 MF   USA Daniel Mangarov
17 DF   CAN Victor Akoum
18 FW   USA Kome Ubogu
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF   USA Reese Miller
20 FW   USA Ignacio Alem
21 MF   USA Elias Norris
22 FW   USA Michael Tsicoulias
23 FW   USA David Okorie
24 MF   USA Garrett Socas
25 DF   USA Donovan Maryat
26 MF   USA Amari Salley
27 MF   USA Jack Singer
28 MF   USA Matthew Thissell
29 DF   USA Yassine Rhoumar
30 GK   USA Colin Gallagher
31 MF   ITA Umberto Pelà
32 FW   USA Parker Sloan
33 DF   USA Austin Rome
34 MF   USA Miguel Kobby Adoboe
46 DF   USA Matthew Hunter
99 GK   USA Holden Brown

Notable alumni

edit
  • Updated January 26, 2024

* – Player has represented their country at the senior national team level

Stadium

edit

One of the earliest soccer-specific stadiums in college soccer, the Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team plays their home matches at the 8,000-seater Klöckner Stadium. Since its opening in 1997, the Cavaliers have enjoyed some of the highest reported attendance figures in American college soccer.

The stadium has 3,600 grandstand seats along with an additional 3,400 grass seats. It is shared with the women's soccer team, as well as the men's and women's lacrosse teams.[6]

Rivalries

edit

Maryland

edit

Both UVA and Maryland have NCAA Championship programs in men's soccer. The Virginia Cavaliers have won seven NCAA Championships to Maryland's four. When they were both in the Atlantic Coast Conference, some cited the rivalry between the Cavaliers and the Maryland Terrapins as one of the most bitter rivalries in college soccer.[7] In 2011, FirstPoint USA rated the rivalry as the third best rivalry in college soccer.[8]

The Terrapins' departure to the Big Ten has put the annual rivalry on hiatus. Maryland recorded a 1–0 victory in the 2015 NCAA tournament and No. 12 Virginia dethroned No. 1 Maryland, 2–0, in a regular season game on September 2, 2019, helping Virginia to take over the No. 1 ranking weeks later.

Virginia Tech

edit

As intra-conference members, and having a longstanding rivalry, another one of the top rivals of the Virginia Cavaliers is the Virginia Tech Hokies. The series between the two has been heavily dominated by the Cavaliers, who boast a 31–2–5 record and 14-match unbeaten streak against the Hokies.[9][10]

Team management

edit

Coaching staff

edit

Updated January 26, 2024[5]

Position Name
Head coach George Gelnovatch
Associate Head Coach Matt Chulis
Associate Head Coach Adam Perron
Assistant coach Jermaine Birriel

Head coaching history

edit
Dates Name
1941–1950   Lawrence Ludwig
1951–1953   Hugh Moomaw
1954   Wilson Fewster
1955–1957   Robert Sandell
1958–1965   Gene Corrigan
1966–1970   Gordon Burris
1971–1973   Jim Stephens
1974–1977   Larry Gross
1978–1995   Bruce Arena
1996–present   George Gelnovatch

Seasons

edit

Source: [11]

Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Virginia (Independent) (1941–1953)
1941 Lawrence Ludwig 0–9–0
1942 Lawrence Ludwig 4–2–1
1943–1945 No team due to World War II
1946 Lawrence Ludwig 1–3–1
1947 Lawrence Ludwig 2–7–2
1948 Lawrence Ludwig 3–7–1
1949 Lawrence Ludwig 5–5–0
1950 Lawrence Ludwig 4–5–1
1951 Hugh Moomaw 1–5–2
1952 Hugh Moomaw 5–2–2
1953 Hugh Moomaw 4–4–1
Virginia (ACC) (1953–present)
1954 Wilson Fewster 2–4–2 1–1–2 4th
1955 Robert Sandell 3–5–2 1–2–1 3rd
1956 Robert Sandell 6–3–0 3–1–0 2nd
1957 Robert Sandell 5–2–1 2–1–1 2nd
1958 Gene Corrigan 5–4–0 1–3–0 4th
1959 Gene Corrigan 3–4–2 2–2–0 3rd
1960 Gene Corrigan 3–7–0 1–3–0 4th
1961 Gene Corrigan 9–3–0 1–3–0 4th VISA Champions
1962 Gene Corrigan 5–4–1 1–3–0 4th VISA Champions
1963 Gene Corrigan 7–2–1 2–1–1 2nd VISA Champions
1964 Gene Corrigan 4–5–2 0–4–0 5th
1965 Gene Corrigan 3–6–1 2–2–0 3rd
1966 Gordon Burris 0–10–0 0–4–0 6th
1967 Gordon Burris 3–9–0 0–4–0 6th
1968 Gordon Burris 4–5–1 1–3–1 6th
1969 Gordon Burris 9–1–2 4–0–1 1st VISA co-champions
NCAA First Round
1970 Gordon Burris 8–2–1 3–1–0 1st VISA Champions
1971 Jim Stephens 7–5–1 1–3–1 6th
1972 Jim Stephens 8–3–3 1–2–2 4th
1973 Jim Stephens 6–7–0 1–4–0 6th
1974 Larry Gross 5–4–3 3–2–0 3rd
1975 Larry Gross 5–8–0 0–5–0 6th
1976 Larry Gross 8–6–2 2–2–1 3rd
1977 Larry Gross 12–6–1 2–3–0 4th VISA Champions
1978 Bruce Arena 9–2–2 3–2–0 3rd
1979 Bruce Arena 12–4–1 3–1–1 3rd NCAA Second Round
1980 Bruce Arena 8–9–1 2–3–1 5th
1981 Bruce Arena 10–6–2 2–4–0 6th VISA Champions
NCAA Second Round
1982 Bruce Arena 16–2–2 3–1–2 3rd VISA Champions
NCAA Second Round
1983 Bruce Arena 16–5–0 5–1–0 1st NCAA College Cup
1984 Bruce Arena 19–3–1 6–0–0 1st VISA Champions
NCAA Quarterfinals
1985 Bruce Arena 15–4–1 4–1–1 2nd NCAA First Round
1986 Bruce Arena 17–2–2 6–0–0 1st NCAA First Round
1987 Bruce Arena 17–3–2 5–0–1 1st ACC Semifinals[a]
NCAA Second Round
1988 Bruce Arena 18–1–3 5–0–1 1st ACC Champions
NCAA Quarterfinals
1989 Bruce Arena 21–2–2 5–0–1 1st NCAA co-champions
1990 Bruce Arena 12–6–6 3–2–1 3rd NCAA Third Round
1991 Bruce Arena 19–1–2 5–1–0 1st ACC Champions
NCAA Champions
1992 Bruce Arena 21–2–1 5–1–0 1st ACC Champions
NCAA Champions
1993 Bruce Arena 22–3–0 4–2–0 3rd ACC Champions
NCAA Champions
1994 Bruce Arena 22–3–1 4–2–0 2nd ACC Champions
NCAA Champions
1995 Bruce Arena 21–1–2 4–0–2 1st ACC Champions
NCAA College Cup
1996 George Gelnovatch 16–3–3 4–0–2 1st NCAA First Round
1997 George Gelnovatch 19–4–3 3–1–2 2nd ACC Champions
NCAA Runners-Up
1998 George Gelnovatch 16–4–3 4–1–1 2nd NCAA Quarterfinals
1999 George Gelnovatch 14–9–1 1–4–1 6th NCAA Quarterfinals
2000 George Gelnovatch 17–6–1 5–1–0 1st NCAA Quarterfinals
2001 George Gelnovatch 17–2–1 6–0–0 1st NCAA Second Round
2002 George Gelnovatch 15–7–0 3–3–0 4th NCAA Second Round
2003 George Gelnovatch 11–10–2 3–3–0 3rd NCAA Third Round
2004 George Gelnovatch 18–5–1 4–3–1 4th NCAA Quarterfinals
2005 George Gelnovatch 12–5–3 6–2–0 2nd NCAA Third Round
2006 George Gelnovatch 17–4–1 5–3–0 3rd NCAA College Cup
2007 George Gelnovatch 12–8–2 1–5–2 8th NCAA Second Round
2008 George Gelnovatch 11–9–1 4–4–0 4th NCAA Second Round
2009 George Gelnovatch 19–3–3 4–3–1 5th NCAA Champions
2010 George Gelnovatch 11–6–3 2–4–2 6th NCAA First Round
2011 George Gelnovatch 12–8–1 4–3–1 3rd ACC Semifinals
NCAA First Round
2012 George Gelnovatch 10–7–1 3–4–1 6th ACC Semifinals
NCAA Second Round
2013 George Gelnovatch 13–6–5 4–3–4 6th ACC Runners-up
NCAA College Cup
2014 George Gelnovatch 13–6–4 3–3–2 4th, Coastal ACC Quarterfinals
NCAA Champions
2015 George Gelnovatch 10–5–3 4–2–2 3rd, Coastal ACC Quarterfinals
NCAA Second Round
2016 George Gelnovatch 10–3–5 4–2–3 2nd, Coastal ACC Quarterfinals
NCAA Third Round
2017 George Gelnovatch 13–4–5 3–2–3 3rd, Coastal ACC Runners-up
NCAA Second Round
2018 George Gelnovatch 10–4–3 3–2–2 3rd, Coastal ACC First Round
NCAA Third Round
2019 George Gelnovatch 21–1–2 6–1–1 1st, Coastal ACC Champions
NCAA Runners-Up
2020 George Gelnovatch 7–8–1 4–7–1 4th, North, 4th Coastal ACC Semifinals
2021 George Gelnovatch 6–9–3 2–5–1 6th Coastal ACC First Round
2022 George Gelnovatch 10–4–5 5–1–2 2nd Coastal ACC Semifinals
NCAA Second Round
2023 George Gelnovatch 11–4–4 5–1–2 2nd Coastal ACC Quarterfinals
NCAA Third Round
Total: TBD

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Source:

Honors

edit
  • NCAA Division I tournament
  • ACC tournament
    • Winners (11): 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2019
    • Runners-up (8): 1990, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2017
  • ACC regular season
    • First Place (19): 1969, 1970, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2019
    • Runners-up (8): 1956, 1957, 1963, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2016
  • Commonwealth Clash[13]
    • Winners (31): 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019
    • Runners-up (2): 2004, 2005
  • Virginia Intercollegiate Soccer Association tournament
    • Winners (9): 1961, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1984
    • Runners-up (3): 1964, 1967, 1971
Notes
  1. ^ Title shared after the final ended in a tie, with no extra time played.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ The ACC Men's Soccer Tournament began in 1987.[12]

References

edit
General
  • NCAA results and statistics sourced to: "NCAA Tournament Results & Awards". University of Virginia. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  • ACC tournament results and statistics sourced to: "UVa in the ACC Tournament". Atlantic Coast Conference. University of Virginia. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
Citations
  1. ^ "Athletics Color Palette". University of Virginia Consumer Product Brand Standards (PDF). Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Teel, David (December 15, 2014). "Virginia men's soccer joins elite ACC company with seventh NCAA title". Daily Press. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Virginia wins 7th NCAA Championship in shootout versus UCLA, accessed December 14, 2014
  4. ^ Goff, Steven (December 4, 1989). "Virginia, Santa Clara tie for title". Washington Post.
  5. ^ a b "2023 Men's Soccer Roster". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "Klöckner Stadium and Team Locker Rooms". University of Virginia. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  7. ^ "Virginia, Maryland Renew Men's Soccer Rivalry This Weekend". University of Virginia. CBSSports.com. September 12, 1998. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  8. ^ CollegeSoccerNews.com (May 9, 2011). "The 5 Greatest Rivalries in College Soccer". First Point USA. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012.
  9. ^ "#4 VIRGINIA vs. #16 VIRGINIA TECH" (PDF).
  10. ^ "Men's soccer: No. 10 UVA, No. 21 Virginia Tech play to 1–1 draw". Augusta Free Press. September 8, 2018.
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ "ACC Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Atlantic Coast Conference. theacc.com. November 16, 2017. p. 92. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  13. ^ "Virginia Tech-Virginia Men's Soccer Series History". hokiesports.com. September 15, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
edit