The Virginia men’s soccer team has history on its side — the Cavaliers have claimed seven national championships, 15 conference titles and 36 straight years of NCAA tournament appearances. With a seasoned group of returning players, the team is prepared for another deep tournament run to Pennsylvania.
Virginia holds the No. 13 spot in the preseason poll after an 11-4-5 record in the 2016 season and a third round exit from the NCAA Tournament at the hands of Stanford, which went on to win the championship and opens this season ranked No. 1. After a final preseason scrimmage against Georgetown, Virginia will open its season in Charlottesville Aug. 25 with a home opener against Villanova at 7 p.m.
ACC soccer is just as good as its basketball counterpart, taking over almost one-third of the Top 25 teams. Many of the Cavalier’s regular season games come against ACC opponents ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
Virginia faces its first tough ACC battle against No. 8 Syracuse on Sept. 8 in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers quickly go on to face No. 17 Virginia Tech one week later, who they tied with last season in a long 0-0 battle at Klöckner.
No. 4 North Carolina comes to town Sept. 22 looking for revenge after the team’s 2-1 defeat in Chapel Hill last year. The Cavaliers will have to take a trip over to South Bend at the end of September to tangle with No. 10 Notre Dame, who is also looking for sweet revenge after a defeat to Virginia in 2016.
Although the ACC schedule always proves tough, the Cavaliers have less to fear from their nonconference schedule, where they do not play a nationally ranked team.
Meet the Team: Coach George Gelnovatch returns for his 22nd season at the helm of the program. A Virginia alumnus, Gelnovatch has led the Cavaliers to 21-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, four ACC titles, five College Cup appearances and two National Championships.
He is joined by another Virginia alumnus — associate head coach Matt Chulis — who is in his 12th season on the staff after an illustrious collegiate and professional career. Chulis and Gelnovatch work with associate head coach Terry Boss, who is in his second year in the position and works mainly with the goalkeepers.
The Cavaliers hold a spot in the preseason Top 25 for the fifth year in a row due to their returning roster of game-tested players. They have 21 letterwinners returning to the program for what should be a very experienced group of individuals.
The roster includes six ACC postseason award winners. Junior forward Edward Opoku has been named to the MAC Hermann Trophy preseason watch list, which is the most prestigious award in college soccer awarded to the best player in the country.
Senior midfielder Pablo Aguilar and senior goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell will play huge roles in leading the team to its 37th-straight NCAA tournament appearance. Both second team all-ACC selections in 2016, they join a group of 17 upperclassmen poised to bring the College Cup back to Charlottesville for the first time since 2014.
Junior midfielder Jean-Christophe Koffi and junior defensemen Sergi Nus are both primed for explosive seasons after receiving third team all-ACC selections in 2016. Along with the returning award winners are some highly talented transfers. Among the pool, junior forward Kennedy Nwabia and junior defender Prosper Figbe both project to be solid starters after coming over from their Dayton and USF, respectively.
With the influx of returning and new talent and one of the most successful and experienced coaching staffs in the nation, Virginia looks poised to make its deepest tournament run since 2014.
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