Virginia Men’s Soccer opens 2016 campaign tonight

The 17th ranked men's soccer team starts their season tonight at Klöckner Stadium in a matchup of top 25 teams. The Hoos host the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina - ranked 21st in the nation - and will be looking to continue the recent success of an undefeated preseason run that featured wins over Longwood, Liberty, and Georgetown. As the team looks to build off of last year's 10-win season, Wahoo fans should notice a lot of new faces on the pitch this fall.

A couple of incoming transfers should have an immediate impact for Virginia, particularly centerback Sergi Nus, a Barcelona native who previously played at DII Fresno Pacific. Nus is a sophomore this year and tallied two goals from the backline in the three preseason games. Junior Bay Kurtz joined the Hoos in the spring after a couple of seasons at Liberty and will be starting in the midfield. Joining Kurtz in the midfield are a few other new faces, freshman Terrell Lowe (collegesoccernews.com's #11 2016 recruit) and Lucas Mendes (#24-ranked recruit and reigning 2016 VHSL player of the year).

This year's squad is not devoid of senior leadership, however. Paddy Foss returns to the backline after leading last year's team in assists and GOLAZOS.

Foss scored a couple times in the three preseason games and should provide some stability to the fresh-faced defense. Another old man Hoo that should be familiar to fans this year is Marcus Salandy-Defour, a fifth year senior from Maryland whose versatility led him to start in the midfield, backline, and at forward all last season.

UVa plays ten regular season home games this year, so fans will have plenty of chances to check out the team this fall. The action begins tonight though at 7pm. Go Hoos!