The No. 14 Virginia men’s soccer team (10-4-3, 5-1-2 ACC) will travel to New York to take on No. 4 Syracuse (13-2-3, 5-1-2 ACC) for an ACC semifinal match on Wednesday (Nov. 9). Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at SU Soccer Stadium.
HOW TO FOLLOWWednesday evening’s semifinal match against Syracuse will be broadcast on ACC Network and will also be streamed through the ESPN app and at WatchESPN.com for customers who have the ACC Network as part of their television subscription. Live stats are also available and links to both the live broadcast and live stats are available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAMenSoccer).
FOR STARTERS:
- Virginia entered the 2022 ACC Tournament with the No. 3 overall seed after finishing as runners-up in the coastal division after being picked to finish last in the ACC Preseason Poll in August
- The Cavaliers advanced to the semifinal round after a 1-0 victory over Pitt in the quarterfinal round
- Virginia is one of five ACC teams ranked in the top-15 of the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll checking in at No. 14 – its highest ranking of the season
- The Cavaliers are one of four ACC teams listed on the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee’s Top-16 ranking announced Friday as the Hoos checked in at No. 11 – The top-16 correspond to the number of teams that are seeded in the 48-team NCAA Championship bracket
- The Cavaliers traveled to face No. 3 Syracuse in their first road trip of the season (Sept. 24)
- After starting the season at 5-3, Virginia handed No. 3 Syracuse its first loss of the season on the road
- Captains Leo Afonso and Andreas Ueland were the heroes of the match as Ueland provided a game-saving sliding tackle inside the Virginia penalty area to keep the game scoreless. Minutes later, Afonso rocketed a shot into the top corner of goal to win the game in the 85th minute
- This will be the ninth meeting between Virginia and Syracuse all-time
- At least one team has been ranked in the top-25 in six of the last eight meetings between the two
- Virginia has outscored Syracuse by a margin of 11-7 and leads the series 5-2-1
- Leo Afonso has scored in each of his last two games against the Orange (9/10/21, 1/24/22) including the game-winner in the last meeting
- Andreas Ueland netted a game-winning goal over Syracuse two seasons ago (10/30/20)
- Virginia has faced off with Syracuse in the ACC tournament just once before when the Cavaliers dispatched the Orange in the by a score of 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2019 tournament
- Among current ACC programs, Virginia leads with 16 ACC Championships. Clemson is second with 15. UVA has captured a league-best 11 tournament titles, while Clemson has won four.
- The last five tournaments have featured five different champions (Wake Forest, Louisville, Virginia, Clemson, Notre Dame)
- Virginia’s last ACC title came in 2019 when the Cavaliers defeated Clemson in the final by a score of 3-1 – Henry Kessler was named tournament MVP
- Virginia made a semifinal appearance in 2020 falling to Clemson, but bowed out of the tournament in the first round in a 3-0 loss to Wake Forest last season
- Syracuse captured the ACC Atlantic division title for the first time since 2015 with a 5-1-2 conference record
- The Orange enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed and rank No. 4 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll
- Syracuse conceded the second fewest goals this season in ACC play with just five scored against them
- After a first-round bye, the Orange earned their ticket to the semifinal round with a 1-0 victory over North Carolina in the quarterfinals
- A win would secure a place in the ACC Championship to be played on Sunday (Nov. 13) in Cary, N.C. at Wake Med Soccer Park for a noon kickoff.
- The winner Virginia and Syracuse will take on either fourth-seeded Wake Forest, or eighth-seeded Clemson in the championship game
Original source can be found here.
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