Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer

History

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.

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.

Stadium

Main article: Klöckner Stadium

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.

Rivalries

Maryland

Main article: Maryland–Virginia men's soccer rivalry

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. In 2011, FirstPoint USA rated the rivalry as the third best rivalry in college soccer.

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

Main article: Virginia – Virginia Tech rivalry

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.

Players

Current roster

Notable alumni

Main article: Category:Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players

• USA George Gelnovatch (1983–1986) – Currently head coach of Virginia
• USA Jeff Agoos* (1986–1990) – Currently president and general manager of Portland Thorns FC
• USA Kris Kelderman (1987–1990) – Currently head coach of University of Milwaukee
• USA Richie Williams (1988–1991) – Currently head coach of New England Revolution II
• USA Brad Agoos (1989–1992) – Currently head coach of Black Rock FC
• USA Clint Peay (1991–1995) – Currently assistant coach of New England Revolution
• USA Ben Olsen* (1995–1997) – Currently head coach of Houston Dynamo FC
• USA Matt Chulis (1995–1998) – Currently associate head coach of Virginia
• USA Kyle Martino* (1999–2002) – Currently soccer analyst for NBC Sports
• USA Kenny Arena (1999–2002) – Currently assistant coach of FC Cincinnati
• USA Hunter Freeman (2002–2004) – Currently Director of Scouting of FC Cincinnati
• USA Chris Tierney (2004–2007) – Currently Assistant Sporting Director of New England Revolution
• USA Brian Ownby (2008–2011) – Currently with Louisville City FC
• USA Calle Brown (2010–2014) – Currently with Northern Virginia FC
• USA Jake Rozhansky (2014–2015) – Currently with New York City FC II
• LCA Peter Pearson* (2014–2016) – Currently with Des Moines Menace and Saint Lucia international
• HAI Derrick Etienne* (2015) – Currently with Toronto FC and Haiti international
• USA Terrell Lowe (2016) – Currently with PDX FC
• ESP Sergi Nus (2016–2018) – Currently with South Georgia Tormenta FC
• USA Colin Shutler (2016–2020) – Currently with Orange County SC
• NZL Joe Bell* (2017–2019) – Currently with Viking FK and New Zealand international
• USA Henry Kessler * (2017–2019) – Currently with St. Louis City SC
• BDI Irakoze Donasiyano* (2017–2020) – Currently with Oakland Roots SC
• USA Daryl Dike* (2018–2019) – Currently with West Bromwich Albion F.C.
• USA Daniel Steedman (2018–2019) – Currently with South Georgia Tormenta FC
• USA Bret Halsey (2018–2020) – Currently with FC Cincinnati
• USA Alex Rando (2020) – Currently with New York City FC
• HKG Oliver Gerbig* (2020–2021) – Currently with Henan F.C. and Hong Kong international
• BRA Leo Afonso (2020–2023) – Currently with Inter Miami CF
• USA Aidan O'Connor – Currently with New York Red Bulls II

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

Coaches

Current staff

Updated January 26, 2024

Head coaching history

Honours

National

• NCAA Division I tournament
  • Winners (7): 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2014
  • Runners-up (2): 1997, 2019

Conference

• 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
  • 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

Seasons

Source:

|}} NCAA First Round NCAA Second Round NCAA Second Round NCAA Quarterfinals NCAA Second Round NCAA Quarterfinals NCAA Champions NCAA Champions NCAA Champions NCAA Champions NCAA College Cup NCAA Runners-Up NCAA First Round NCAA Second Round NCAA College Cup NCAA Champions NCAA Second Round NCAA Third Round NCAA Second Round NCAA Third Round NCAA Runners-Up NCAA Second Round NCAA Third Round NCAA Third Round

Notes

References

;General

• NCAA results and statistics sourced to:
• ACC tournament results and statistics sourced to: ;Citations

References

1. (December 15, 2014). "Virginia men's soccer joins elite ACC company with seventh NCAA title". [[Daily Press (Virginia).
2. [http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/12/14/college-cup-virginia-win-7th-ncaa-championship-penalty-kick-shootout-vs-ucla Virginia wins 7th NCAA Championship in shootout versus UCLA] {{Webarchive. link. (December 25, 2014 , accessed December 14, 2014)
3. (December 4, 1989). "Virginia, Santa Clara tie for title". Washington Post.
4. "Klöckner Stadium and Team Locker Rooms". University of Virginia.
5. (September 12, 1998). "Virginia, Maryland Renew Men's Soccer Rivalry This Weekend". CBSSports.com.
6. (May 9, 2011). "The 5 Greatest Rivalries in College Soccer".
7. "#4 VIRGINIA vs. #16 VIRGINIA TECH".
8. (September 8, 2018). "Men's soccer: No. 10 UVA, No. 21 Virginia Tech play to 1–1 draw". Augusta Free Press.
9. "2024 Men's Soccer Roster". University of Virginia Athletics.
10. (September 15, 2017). "Virginia Tech-Virginia Men's Soccer Series History".
11. [http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=607395&SPID=10604&&DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=204973363#1940]
12. (November 16, 2017). "ACC Men's Soccer Record Book". theacc.com.