2019 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team

The 2019 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represented University of Virginia during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Cavaliers were led by head coach George Gelnovatch, in his twenty-fourth season. They played home games at Klöckner Stadium. This was be the team's 79th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 67th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.[1] They had entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed and were the runner-up.[2]

2019 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
ACC Coastal Division regular season champions ACC Tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, Runner-Up
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal
U. Soc. Coaches poll	No. 2
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 2
2019 record	21–1–2 (6–1–1 ACC)
Head coach	George Gelnovatch (24th season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Chulis (13th season) Ryan Hopkins (2nd season)
Home stadium	Klöckner Stadium
Uniform
Home Away

2019 ACC men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Atlantic
No. 5 Clemson +	6	–	1	–	1			18	–	2	–	2
No. 3 Wake Forest +	6	–	2	–	0			16	–	5	–	2
NC State +	3	–	4	–	1			9	–	7	–	3
No. 20 Louisville +	3	–	4	–	1			10	–	8	–	2
Boston College +	2	–	4	–	2			9	–	6	–	3
Syracuse +	2	–	4	–	2			8	–	7	–	4
Coastal
No. 2 Virginia ‡	6	–	1	–	1			21	–	1	–	2
Pittsburgh +	4	–	3	–	1			10	–	8	–	2
Notre Dame +	3	–	5	–	0			10	–	8	–	1
North Carolina	3	–	5	–	0			7	–	8	–	3
No. 13 Virginia Tech +	2	–	4	–	2			10	–	6	–	3
Duke	2	–	5	–	1			7	–	9	–	2
‡ – 2019 ACC Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2019 NCAA Tournament As of 17 December 2019; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source:The ACC

Previous season

Main article: 2018 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team

The 2018 Virginia Cavaliers team finished the season with a final overall record of 10–4–3, and final ACC record of 3–3–2. The Cavaliers were seeded sixth-overall in the 2018 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they were upset in the first round by Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers earned an at-large bid into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, continuing their record streak of consecutive NCAA appearances going at 38 appearances. In the NCAA Tournament, Virginia was seeded tenth overall in the tournament, where they reached third round before losing to Notre Dame.

Player movement

Players leaving

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Sergi Nus	2	DF	6'2"	185	Senior	Barcelona, Spain	Graduated
Prosper Figbe	4	DF	6'2"	195	Senior	Ilorin, Nigeria	Graduated
Simeon Okoro	7	FW	5'10"	155	Senior	Weston, CT	Graduated
Kennedy Nwabia	9	FW	6'2"	210	Senior	Owerri, Nigeria	Graduated
Daniel Barir	15	MF	5'10"	140	Senior	Copenhagen, Denmark	Graduated

Players arriving

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Nick Berghold MF	USA	Wingdale, NY	Black Rock FC	[3]
Isaiah Byrd FW	USA	Gainesville, VA	BRYC Elite Academy	[4]
Axel Gunnarsson FW	SWE	Gothenburg, Sweden	Swedish National Team	N/A[5]
Philip Horton FW	USA	New Albany, OH	Crew SC Academy	[6]
Reed Kessler DF	USA	New York City, NY	BW Gottschee	[7]
Eben Noverr DF	USA	Highlands Ranch, CO	Colorado Rapids	[8]
Andreas Ueland DF	NOR	Bryne, Norway	Bryne FK	N/A[9]
Jeremy Verley MF	USA	Milton, MA	Boston Bolts	[10]
Matt Warbrick MF	USA	Chattanooga, TN	Chattanooga FC Academy	[11]

Squad

Roster

Updated August 20, 2019[12]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 00 GK  USA Tyler Willen 0 GK  USA Chris Shutler 1 GK  USA Colin Shutler 2 DF  USA Eben Noverr 3 DF  USA Max Diamond 4 DF  USA Reed Kessler 5 DF  USA Henry Kessler 6 MF  JAM Jeremy Verly 7 FW  SCO Daniel Steedman 8 MF  NZL Joe Bell 9 FW  USA Daryl Dike 10 FW  ENG Nathaniel Crofts 11 FW  USA Irakoze Donasiyano 12 DF  USA Spencer Patton

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF  USA Bret Halsey 15 FW  USA Philip Horton 16 FW  USA Jerren Nixon 17 DF  NOR Andreas Ueland 18 FW  SWE Axel Gunnarsson 19 MF  USA Nick Berghold 20 FW  ZIM Cabrel Happi Kamseu 21 MF  USA Aaron James 23 FW  NZL Matthew Warbrick 24 MF  USA Isaiah Byrd 26 MF  USA Ben Grant 27 MF  USA Beau Bradley 30 DF  GER Robin Afamefuna 99 GK  USA Marcel DaSilva

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Carla Williams
Head Coach	George Gelnovatch
Associate Head Coach	Matt Chulis
Assistant Coach	Ryan Hopkins
Operations Assistant	Carl Carpenter

Source:[13]

Schedule

Source:[14]

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 17* 7:00 p.m.	No. 12	Siena	T 1–1[15]	– (–)	Klöckner Stadium Charlottesville, VA
August 20* 6:00 a.m.	No. 12	Villanova	W 3–1[16]	– (–)	Klöckner Stadium Charlottesville, VA
August 24* 7:00 p.m.	No. 12	Drexel	W 3–0[17]	– (–)	Klöckner Stadium Charlottesville, VA
Regular Season
August 30* 7:00 p.m.	No. 12	Pacific	W 2–0	1–0–0 (0–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (3,770) Charlottesville, VA
September 2* 7:00 p.m.	No. 12	vs. No. 1 Maryland Rivalry	W 2–0	2–0–0 (0–0–0)	Audi Field (1,884) Washington, D.C.
September 7* 7:00 p.m.	No. 7	High Point	W 1–0	3–0–0 (0–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (1,578) Charlottesville, VA
September 13 6:00 p.m.	No. 6	at No. 2 Duke	W 3–1	4–0–0 (1–0–0)	Koskinen Stadium (1,092) Durham, NC
September 17* 7:00 p.m.	No. 5	Radford	W 1–0	5–0–0 (1–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (1,043) Charlottesville, VA
September 20 7:00 p.m.	No. 5	NC State	W 2–0	6–0–0 (2–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (3,858) Charlottesville, VA
September 23* 7:00 p.m.	No. 5	Western Michigan	W 1–0 ^OT	7–0–0 (2–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (957) Charlottesville, VA
September 28 11:00 a.m.	No. 3	at No. 21 Notre Dame	W 1–0	8–0–0 (3–0–0)	Alumni Stadium (646) South Bend, IN
October 1* 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	George Washington	W 3–0	9–0–0 (3–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (1,160) Charlottesville, VA
October 4 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	No. 24 Louisville	W 2–0	10–0–0 (4–0–0)	Klöckner Stadium (3,008) Charlottesville, VA
October 11 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	at Boston College	T 1–1 ^2OT	10–0–1 (4–0–1)	Newton Soccer Complex (242) Chestnut Hill, MA
October 15* 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	No. 18 James Madison	W 1–0	11–0–1 (4–0–1)	Klöckner Stadium (1,809) Charlottesville, VA
October 18 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	Pittsburgh	L 0–2	11–1–1 (4–1–1)	Klöckner Stadium (3,201) Charlottesville, VA
October 22* 7:00 p.m.	No. 6	Saint Louis	W 2–0	12–1–1 (4–1–1)	Klöckner Stadium (1,021) Charlottesville, VA
October 25 7:00 p.m.	No. 6	at No. 25 Virginia Tech Rivalry	W 2–0	13–1–1 (5–1–1)	Thompson Field (1,738) Blacksburg, VA
November 1 7:00 p.m.	No. 4	North Carolina Rivalry	W 2–1 ^OT	14–1–1 (6–1–1)	Klöckner Stadium (2,193) Charlottesville, VA
ACC Tournament
November 10 1:00 p.m.	(2) No. 4	(10) Syracuse Quarterfinals	W 2–1	15–1–1	Klöckner Stadium (1,525) Charlottesville, VA
November 13 4:00 p.m.	(2) No. 2	(3) No. 7 Wake Forest Semifinals	W 1–0	16–1–1	Klöckner Stadium (586) Charlottesville, VA
November 17 12:00 p.m.	(2) No. 2	vs. (1) No. 1 Clemson Final	W 3–1	17–1–1	WakeMed Soccer Park (1,330) Cary, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 24* 1:00 p.m.	(1) No. 1	No. 24 Campbell Second Round	W 2–0	18–1–1	Klöckner Stadium (1,460) Charlottesville, VA
November 30* 7:00 p.m.	(1) No. 1	(16) No. 14 St. John's Third Round	W 3–0	19–1–1	Klöckner Stadium (815) Charlottesville, VA
December 6* 7:00 p.m.	(1) No. 1	(8) No. 5 SMU Quarterfinals	W 3–2	20–1–1	Klöckner Stadium (1,674) Charlottesville, VA
December 13* 6:00 p.m.	(1) No. 1	vs. (4) No. 9 Wake Forest College Cup Semifinals	W 2–1	21–1–1	WakeMed Soccer Park (9,862) Cary, NC
December 16* 6:00 p.m.	(1) No. 1	vs. (3) No. 2 Georgetown College Cup Championship	L 3–3 (6–7 PKs) ^2OT	21–2–1	WakeMed Soccer Park (8,413) Cary, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Irakoze Donasiyano	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	September 3, 2019	[18]
Colin Shutler	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	September 9, 2019	[19]
	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	September 30, 2019	[20]
Robin Afamefuna	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	October 7, 2019	[21]
Daryl Dike	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	October 28, 2019	[22]
Joe Bell	ACC Midfielder of the Year	November 13, 2019	[23]
Colin Shutler	All-ACC First Team
Joe Bell
Daryl Dike	All-ACC Second Team
Henry Kessler
Robin Afamefuna	All-ACC Third Team
Andreas Ueland
Irakoze Donasiyano
Andreas Ueland	All-ACC Freshman Team
Nathaniel Crofts	All-ACC Tournament Team	November 17, 2019	[24]
Bret Halsey
Cabrel Happi Kamseu
Henry Kessler

2020 MLS Super Draft

Main article: 2020 MLS SuperDraft

Player	Team	Round	Pick #	Position
Daryl Dike	Orlando City SC	1	5	FW
Henry Kessler	New England Revolution	1	6	DF
Robin Afamefuna	Colorado Rapids	2	37	DF

Source:[25]

Rankings

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
United Soccer[26]	12	7	6	5	3 (4)	1 (20)	1 (25)	1 (22)	6	4	4 (1)	2 (6)	1 (27)	None Released				2
TopDrawer Soccer [27]	15	15	16	3	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	2

References

1. "Historical Information". CBS Interactive. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
2. Goff, Steven (December 15, 2019). "College Cup soccer: Georgetown outlasts Virginia in penalty kicks to win its first NCAA title". washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
3. "Nick Berghold". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
4. "Isaiah Byrd". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
5. "Axel Gunnarsson". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
6. "Philip Horton". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
7. "Reed Kessler". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
8. "Eben Noverr". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
9. "Andreas Ueland". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
10. "Jeremy Verley". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
11. "Matt Warbrick". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
12. "2019 Men's Soccer Roster". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
13. "2018 Men's Soccer Coaching Staff". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
14. "2019 Men's Soccer Schedule". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
15. @UVAMenSoccer (August 17, 2019). "FINAL: UVA - 1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
16. @UVAMenSoccer (August 20, 2019). "FINAL: Hoos top Villanova, 3-1 in Tuesday morning friendly! 47' - Crofts (PK) 60' - Kessler 82' - Nixon Jr. (PK) Next Exhibition Match: vs. Drexel on Saturday (8/24) - 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium #GoHoos" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
17. @UVAMenSoccer (August 24, 2019). "FINAL: Hoos are victorious in their final preseason friendly, 3-0 over Drexel. We'll see you on Friday (Aug. 30) for the regular season opener against Pacific! #GoHoos" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. "Donasiyano, DeShields Named ACC Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
19. "Proch, Gelnovatch, Shutler Tabbed ACC Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
20. "McMaster, Shutler Claim ACC Men's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
21. "Sigurdarson, Kellett, Afamefuna Nab ACC Men's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
22. "Dike, Robinson, Turnbull Earn ACC Men's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
23. "2019 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
24. "Virginia Wins 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
25. "14 ACC Players Picked on Day 1 of MLS SuperDraft". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
26. "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
27. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.

External links

• Official Site