The No. 12 Virginia men’s soccer team received a No. 8 seed to the NCAA tournament and a first round bye Tuesday. Virginia will host the winner of a first round matchup between Delaware and St John’s at Klöckner Stadium Sunday.
The Cavaliers lost Sunday in the final of the ACC tournament, dropping a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to No. 4 Maryland on an own goal in the 88th minute. Virginia’s loss was just its second in its past 16 games — a run which included wins against No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 9 Wake Forest in the ACC tournament. Before Friday’s wild 3-3 overtime victory against Notre Dame, the Cavaliers had only given up three goals in their previous six games.
Virginia will not find out its opening round opponent until Thursday, when St. John’s travels to Newark, Del. to take on the Blue Hens. The Cavaliers will play the winner three days later in Charlottesville. Should Virginia advance, the team will still have a tough road to reaching the quarterfinals in Philadelphia — the Cavaliers’ portion of the bracket includes No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 9 seed and Big East champion Marquette.
The ACC landed six teams in the Tournament, the most of any conference in the country. Virginia has now received a bid to the NCAA tournament in 33 consecutive seasons, the longest current streak of any school in the nation. The Cavaliers have won six national championships, most recently in 2009.