Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer

Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
2016 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team
Founded	1941 (1941)
University	University of Virginia
Conference	ACC
Location	Charlottesville, VA
Head coach	George Gelnovatch (18th year)
Stadium	Klöckner Stadium (Capacity: 8,000)
Nickname	Cavs, Hoos
Colors	Navy blue and Orange[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Champions
1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2014
NCAA Tournament Runner Up
1997
NCAA Tournament College Cup
1983, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal
1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1969, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Conference Tournament Champions
1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2009
Conference Regular Season Champions
1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2010

The Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represent the University of Virginia in all NCAA Division I men's soccer competitions. The team is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The team has grown an extensive reputation as having one of the most elite collegiate soccer programs in the United States, producing several future U.S. national team players. Notable examples include Claudio Reyna and John Harkes. Present Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena coached the team and led them to four College Cup titles in a five-year period during the 1990s. George Gelnovatch has since taken the Cavaliers to five College Cup Final Fours (1997, 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2014) and two National Championship seasons in 2009 and 2014.^[2]

Virginia has currently made the College Cup tournament bracket for a record consecutive 34 years, the most of any team in the history of the sport.

History

The University of Virginia first fielded a varsity men's soccer team in 1941 as an independent team. In their first season, the team posted a winless record, losing all nine of their matches.

The team made their first appearance in the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship in 1969, where they played their out-of-state rivals, the Maryland Terrapins. The team was eliminated in the first round of the tournament following a 5–0 defeat. Ten years would pass before the Cavaliers would make their second tournament appearance, this time losing to the American Eagles, 1–0 in the opening round. The team would make two more NCAA tournament appearances, in 1981 and 1982, before eventually progressing past the first round of the tournament. In the 1983 tournament, the Cavaliers defeated stateside opponents William & Mary Tribe by a 2–1 scoreline to advance into the quarterfinals. The tournament would culimnate with a quarterfinal victory over the San Francisco Dons before bowing out in the semifinals to the eventual champions, the Indiana Hoosiers.

During this period though, led under head coach Bruce Arena, the Cavaliers developed a well-renowned reputation as being one of the most elite soccer programs in the country. Following their 1981 tournament appearance, the Cavaliers would qualify for the NCAA Men's Division I tournament every consecutive season to date, one of the longest streaks in NCAA history for any sport. Their apex came in the late 1980s to early 1990s, 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 the championship team. The Cavaliers would win the 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 editions of the tournament.

Subsequent to their dynasty run, the United States Soccer Federation, in the promise of hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup instituted the creation of a new top tier professional soccer league, later to be named Major League Soccer. Upon the creation of the league, one of the league's clubs, D.C. United hired Arena as their full-time head coach, where he led them to three MLS Cup titles, two Supporters' Shields and a CONCACAF title.

The departure of Arena saw a new replacement fill managerial duties in 1996. Arena would be replaced by longtime assistant, George Gelnovatch, whom still today coaches the team.

Initially under the helm of Gelnovatch, the Cavaliers were still a fairly successful team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and in the NCAA tournaments, although their success in the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s (decade) could not replicate the same success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During Gelnovatch's early years, the team's best finish was making the finals of the 1997 NCAA Men's Soccer championship, but to only lose 2–0 to the UCLA Bruins.

After a period of decline in the early 2000s (decade), the team had a successful campaign in 2009, reaching the final for the first time since 1997. Playing against the recently upstart Akron Zips, the Cavaliers were able to defeat the Zips in a penalty kick shootout to claim their sixth NCAA title, and their first national championship since the Arena years.

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.^[3]

Fans

Rivalries

Maryland

Best known for their college football rivalry many cite the rivalry between the Cavaliers and the Maryland Terrapins as one of the most bitter rivalries in college soccer.^[4][5] The two sides have long been heavyweights in the ACC and are among the colleges with the most NCAA Division I championships in the sport.^[6] Throughout the 1970s, the rivalry was heavily dominated by Maryland only for the fortunes to be reversed in the 1990s. Additionally, the two sides have clashed six times against one another in the ACC championship.^[5] The Terrapins' departure to the Big Ten has put the rivalry on hiatus.

Virginia Tech

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 27–2–3 record against the Hokies.^[7] However, in ACC play, the Cavaliers "only" better the Hokies by 5–2–3 mark, being undefeated against the Hokies in the past 6 ACC matchups between the two.

Other rivalries

With the success of Colonial Athletic Association teams in men's collegiate soccer, as well as their geographic proximity, there has been reported rivalries between the Cavaliers and the Old Dominion Monarchs, the Virginia Commonwealth Rams^[8] and the William & Mary Tribe. The Cavaliers have met these opponents in numerous out of conference games, and in the NCAA tournament where they have even been defeated by Old Dominion.

Roster

2014–15 squad

As of August, 2014^[9]

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

No. Position Player 00 GK Jeff Caldwell 0 GK Cole Moffatt 1 GK Spencer LaCivita 2 DF Steven Gandy 3 DF Matt Brown 4 DF Grant Silvester 5 MF Luc Fatton 6 MF Scott Thomsen 7 MF Todd Wharton 8 MF Pablo Aguilar 9 FW Darius Madison 10 FW Nicko Corriveau 11 MF Eric Bird 12 FW Riggs Lennon 13 DF Kyler Sullivan 15 FW Bryan Lima 16 FW Marcus Salandy-Defour

No. Position Player 17 MF Jake Rozhansky 18 GK Calle Brown 19 MF Peter Pearson 20 MF Patrick Foss 21 FW Ryan Zinkhan 22 FW Kyle McCord 23 DF Will Hare 24 MF Matt Mills 25 DF Nate Odusote 27 MF Manny Scere 29 DF Wesley Suggs 30 DF Fabrice Shema 31 DF Sheldon Sullivan 32 MF Julian Cummings 33 GK Andrew Freschi 34 MF Liam Jenkins 35 DF Jeremy Lunsford

Team management

Coaching Staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	George Gelnovatch
Associate Head Coach	Matt Chulis
Asst. Coach	Michael Behonick
Operations Assistant	Gabe Bernstein

Head coaching history

Dates	Name	Notes
1941–1950	Lawrence Ludwig
1951–1953	Hugh Moomaw
1954	Wilson Fewster
1955–1957	Robert Sandell
1958–1965	Gene Corrigan
1966–1970	Gordon Burris
1971–1973	Jim Stephens
1974–1977	Larry Gross
1978–1995	Bruce Arena
1996–present	George Gelnovatch

Seasons

Source: [1]

Source:

Honors

• College Cup
  • Winners (7): 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2014
  • Runners-up (1): 1997

Notable Alumni

• Jeff Agoos ^*
• John Harkes ^*, head coach of FC Cincinnati
• Tony Meola ^*, head coach/technical director of Jacksonville Armada
• Claudio Reyna ^*
• George Gelnovatch, head coach of Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
• Erik Imler ^*
• Clint Peay, former head coach of University of Richmond men's soccer
• Brandon Pollard
• Jeff Causey
• A.J. Wood
• Damian Silvera
• Matt Chulis, associate head coach of Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
• Ben Olsen ^*, head coach of D.C. United
• Chris Albright ^*
• Jason Moore
• Kyle Martino ^*, soccer analyst for NBC Sports
• Alecko Eskandarian ^*, head coach of New York Cosmos B
• Hunter Freeman, currently with the New York Cosmos
• Nico Colaluca
• Adam Cristman
• Bakary Soumare, currently with the Chicago Fire ^*
• Tony Tchani, currently with the Columbus Crew
• Ross LaBauex
• Diego Restrepo, currently with Metropolitanos FC
• Hunter Jumper, currently with the Chicago Fire

^* - Player has represented their country at the senior national team level

References

General

• NCAA results and statistics sourced to: "NCAA Tournament Results & Awards". University of Virginia. Retrieved August 18, 2011. 
• ACC tournament results and statistics sourced to: "UVa in the ACC Tournament". Atlantic Coast Conference. University of Virginia. Retrieved August 20, 2011. 

Notes