2024 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team

2024 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Third Round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches pollNo. 17
TopDrawerSoccer.comNo. 14
Record11–7–3 (3–3–2 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Matt Chulis (18th season)
  • Adam Perron (5th season)
  • Jermaine Birriel (2nd season)
Home stadiumKlöckner Stadium
2024 ACC men's soccer standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Pittsburgh + 6 2 0 14 6 0
No. 9 Clemson + 5 2 1 15 3 4
No. 15 Duke + 4 1 3 11 4 4
No. 6 Wake Forest 4 2 2 12 5 7
No. 5 SMU + 4 2 2 12 3 6
North Carolina + 4 3 1 9 4 5
No. 13 Stanford + 3 2 3 9 5 6
No. 17 + 3 3 2 11 7 3
No. 14 NC State + 3 3 2 10 5 5
Notre Dame 3 3 2 7 5 5
Syracuse 2 4 2 7 7 3
California 2 4 2 8 8 2
Boston College 1 4 3 5 5 6
Virginia Tech 1 5 2 7 6 4
Louisville 0 5 3 6 7 4
As of December 17, 2024
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: The ACC

The 2024 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represented the University of Virginia during the 2024 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Cavaliers were led by head coach George Gelnovatch, in his twenty-ninth season. They played their home games at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. This was the team's 84th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 73rd playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.[1]

The Cavailers began the season ranked thirteenth in the polls and started the season with a win over Rider. They followed that with a loss against Colgate which saw them fall out of the polls. They defeated Saint Joseph's before a rough patch of six games. Over the next six games the team went 0–3–3. Their losses were against conference opponents Duke and second ranked Stanford and non-conference opponent UNC Greensboro. They drew Maryland, Wake Forest, and California. After this stretch, the Cavalier's season turned 180 degrees. They won six of their next seven games. Their only loss was at fifth ranked Pittsburgh. During this stretch, they defeated number eight James Madison and number nineteen Virginia Tech in back-to-back matches.

The Cavaliers finished the regular season 8–5–3 after starting 2–4–3. They finished 3–3–2 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. As the ninth overall seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated eighth seed NC State in the First Round. Their Quarterfinal matchup was a re-match with first seed Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers avenged a regular season loss and advanced to the Semifinals. There they were defeated 5–1 by Wake Forest. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and they were the eleventh overall seed. They earned a bye to the Second Round where they defeated West Virginia 2–1. They were upset in the Third Round by UMass to end their season. Their final overall record was 11–7–3.

Background

The Cavaliers finished the season 11–4–4 overall and 5–2–1 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. As the third overall seed in the ACC Tournament they earned a bye to the Quarterfinals where they were defeated by sixth seed Syracuse in penalties. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and they were the seventh overall seed. They defeated FIU in the Second Round before losing 1–0 to Indiana in the Third Round to end their season.

Player movement

Players leaving

Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Scott Williams 1 GK 6'3" 195 Junior Cincinnati, Ohio Transferred to New Hampshire[2]
William Citron 2 DF 6'0" 185 Senior Eastchester, New York Graduated
Aidan O'Connor 5 DF 6'3" 215 Senior Grand Rapids, Michigan Graduated; selected 12th
overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft
Leo Afonso 7 FW 5'11" 170 Senior São Paulo, Brazil Graduated; selected 32nd
overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft
Stephen Annor 9 FW 6'0" 140 Freshman Accra, Ghana Selected 26th overall
in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft
Axel Ahlander 10 MF 6'3" 190 Senior Nøtterøy, Norway Graduated
Mouhameth Thiam 11 MF 5'5" 142 Senior Dakar, Senegal Graduated
Elias Norris 21 FW 5'10" 155 Graduate Student Bethesda, Maryland Graduated
Michael Tsicoulias 22 FW 5'8" 150 Junior Newton, Massachusetts Transferred to New Hampshire[3]
Jack Singer 27 MF 6'1" 175 Graduate Student San Francisco, California Graduated
Holden Brown 99 GK 6'4" 190 Senior Zionsville, Indiana Graduated

Players arriving

Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Tom Miles 0 GK 6'1" 180 Graduate Student London, England Lubbock Christian
Nick Dang 2 DF 6'2" 180 Junior Brentwood, Tennessee Lipscomb
Hayes Wood 7 FW 6'2" 200 Graduate Student Chattanooga, Tennessee Lipscomb
AJ Smith 9 FW 6'4" 189 Sophomore Høje-Taastrup, Denmark Tyler Junior College
Willem Ebbinge 16 FW 6'1" 180 Graduate Student Queenstown, New Zealand Harvard
Luc Mikula 21 DF 6'2" 198 Senior State College, Pennsylvania Coastal Carolina
Drew Serafino 22 FW 5'8" 155 Junior East Longmeadow, Massachusetts Boston College
Cameron Yriondo 27 MF 6'3" 180 Sophomore Sammamish, Washington Seattle Pacific
Grant Howard 33 DF 5'10" 179 Junior Atlanta, Georgia Virginia Tech

Recruiting Class

Name Nat. Hometown Club TDS Rating
Jed Akwaboah
DF
USA Short Hills, New Jersey Cedar Stars Bergen [4]
Joaquín Brizuela
FW
ARG Mendoza, Argentina Godoy Cruz N/A
Luke Burns
MF
USA Scottsdale, Arizona Phoenix Rising FC [5]
Anthony Faupel
FW
USA St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis City 2 [6]
Michael Howard
FW
USA Apex, North Carolina Atlanta United FC [7]
Bakary Kante
MF
USA Overland Park, Kansas Kansas Rush [8]
Alex Parvu
DF
USA Cumberland, Rhode Island New England Revolution Academy [9]
Spencer Sanderson
GK
USA Austin, Texas Austin FC [10]

Squad

Roster

As of September 1, 2024[11]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK  ENG Tom Miles
00 GK  USA Caleb Tunks
1 GK  USA Joey Batrouni
2 DF  USA Nick Dang
3 MF  USA Max Talley
4 DF  GER Paul Wiese
5 DF  USA Austin Rome
6 MF  ITA Umberto Pelà
7 FW  USA Hayes Wood
8 MF  USA Brendan Lambe
9 FW  DEN AJ Smith
10 MF  USA Daniel Mangarov
11 FW  ARG Joaquín Brizuela
12 MF  SWE Albin Gashi
13 FW  USA Cesar Cordova
15 FW  USA Triton Beauvois
16 MF  NZL Willem Ebbinge
17 DF  CAN Victor Akoum
18 FW  USA Kome Ubogu
19 DF  USA Reese Miller
20 FW  USA Ignacio Alem
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 DF  USA Luc Mikula
22 MF  USA Drew Serafino
23 FW  USA David Okorie
24 MF  USA Garrett Socas
25 DF  USA Donovan Maryat
26 MF  USA Amari Salley
27 MF  USA Cameron Yriondo
28 MF  USA Matthew Thissell
29 DF  USA Yassine Rhoumar
30 GK  USA Colin Gallagher
31 MF  USA Luke Burns
32 DF  USA Parker Sloan
33 DF  USA Grant Howard
34 MF  USA Miguel Kobby Adoboe
36 FW  USA Anthony Faupel
37 DF  USA Alex Parvu
38 MF  USA Baka Kante
39 DF  USA Jed Akwaboah
46 DF  USA Matthew Hunter
99 GK  USA Spencer Sanderson

Team management

Position Staff
Head coach George Gelnovatch
Associate Head Coach Matt Chulis
Associate Head Coach Adam Perron
Assistant coach Jermaine Birriel

Source:[11]

Schedule

Source:[12]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Regular Season
August 22*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 13 Rider W 3–0  1–0–0
Klöckner Stadium (1,142)
Charlottesville, VA
August 25*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 13 Colgate L 0–1  1–1–0
Klöckner Stadium (1,380)
Charlottesville, VA
August 29*
3:00 p.m., ACCNX
Saint Joseph's W 5–0  2–1–0
Klöckner Stadium (861)
Charlottesville, VA
September 2*
7:00 p.m., BTN
at Maryland T 1–1  2–1–1
Ludwig Field (2,402)
College Park, MD
September 6
6:00 p.m., ACCN
Duke L 0–1  2–2–1
(0–1–0)
Klöckner Stadium (2,725)
Charlottesville, VA
September 13
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
at Wake Forest T 1–1  2–2–2
(0–1–1)
Spry Stadium (2,440)
Winston-Salem, NC
September 21
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
at California T 1–1  2–2–3
(0–1–2)
Edwards Stadium (710)
Berkeley, CA
September 27
7:30 p.m., ACCN
at No. 2 Stanford L 0–1  2–3–3
(0–2–2)
Cagan Stadium (1,446)
Stanford, CA
October 1*
1:00 p.m., ACCNX
UNC Greensboro L 1–2  2–4–3
Klöckner Stadium (877)
Charlottesville, VA
October 7
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 19 Virginia Tech
Rivalry
W 2–1  3–4–3
(1–2–2)
Klöckner Stadium (2,813)
Charlottesville, VA
October 8*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 8 James Madison W 1–0  4–4–3
Klöckner Stadium (1,345)
Charlottesville, VA
October 11
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
at Boston College W 1–0  5–4–3
(2–2–2)
Newton Soccer Complex (250)
Chestnut Hill, MA
October 15*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
American W 4–2  6–4–3
Klöckner Stadium (1,350)
Charlottesville, VA
October 19
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
Syracuse W 3–0  7–4–3
(3–2–2)
Klöckner Stadium (2,202)
Charlottesville, VA
October 25
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
at No. 5 Pittsburgh L 1–4  7–5–3
(3–3–2)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,601)
Pittsburgh, PA
October 30*
3:00 p.m., ACCNX
Mary Washington W 4–2  8–5–3
Klöckner Stadium (1,160)
Charlottesville, VA
ACC Tournament
November 6
8:00 p.m., ACCN
(9) (8) No. 21 NC State
First Round
W 1–2  9–5–3
Dail Soccer Field (1,464)
Raleigh, North Carolina
November 10
8:00 p.m., ACCN
(9) (1) No. 9 Pittsburgh
Quarterfinals
W 2–0  10–5–3
Pittsburgh (987)
Ambrose Urbanic Field
November 14
5:30 p.m., ACCN
(9) (5) Wake Forest
Semifinal
L 1–5  10–6–3
WakeMed Soccer Park (645)
Cary, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 24
5:00 p.m., ESPN+
(11) West Virginia
Second Round
W 2–1  11–6–3
Klöckner Stadium (1,747)
Charlottesville, VA
November 30
5:00 p.m., ESPN+
(11) UMass
Third Round
L 0–1  11–7–3
Klöckner Stadium (1,408)
Charlottesville, VA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date Ref.
Paul Wise Pre-Season All-ACC Team August 14 [13]
Joey Batrouni ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week – Week 7 October 8 [14]
Nick Dang All-ACC Second Team November 13, 2024 [15]
Nick Dang All ACC-Tournament Team November 17, 2024 [16]
Paul Wise

2025 MLS Super Draft

Player Team Round Pick # Position
Nick Dang Real Salt Lake 2 49 DF
A. J. Smith New York City FC 3 78 FW

Source:[17]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
United Soccer[18]13RVNot released17
TopDrawer Soccer[19]8201720121414

References

  1. ^ "Historical Information". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  2. ^ "Men's Soccer Signs Scott Williams". unhwildcats.com. University of New Hampshire Athletics. August 12, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  3. ^ "Men's Soccer Adds UVA Transfer Michael Tsicoulias to Roster". unhwildcats.com. University of New Hampshire Athletics. February 8, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  4. ^ "Jed Akwaboah". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  5. ^ "Luke Burns". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  6. ^ "Anthony Faupel". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  7. ^ "Michael Howard". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  8. ^ "Bakary Kante". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  9. ^ "Alex Parvu". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  10. ^ "Spencer Sanderson". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  11. ^ a b "2024 Men's Soccer Roster". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  12. ^ "2024 Men's Soccer Schedule". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  13. ^ "Clemson Selected 2024 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  14. ^ "ACC Announces Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "2024 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  16. ^ "Wake Forest Wins 2024 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 17, 2024. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  17. ^ "Nick Dang, AJ Smith Selected in 2025 MLS SuperDraft". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. December 20, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  18. ^ "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  19. ^ "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. TopDrawerSoccer. December 23, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2024.