Virginia Men’s Soccer hits No. 1 in the rankings and on SportsCenter

Tuesday was eventful for the Virginia Men’s Soccer team. First, the Hoos reached No. 1 in the rankings, the first time since 2014 that Virginia has been tops in the country. They joined the Women’s team (9-0-2, 1-0-2 ACC) at No. 1, making Charlottesville the college soccer capital of the world.

Virginia didn’t have much time to adjust to being No. 1 before they had to take the pitch against George Washington on Tuesday night in Charlottesville. It took just over 30 minutes of action before the Hoos got on the board with a gorgeous strike off of a free position shot outside the box. Robin Afamefuma provided what would be the game-winner against George Washington with his first score of the season.

The first half score took some of the pressure off for the Cavaliers. “In these midweek games when teams come in here and just try to defend, it’s not easy,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch told Virginia Sports after the game. “When you get that early goal, especially in the first half it makes it much easier (on the collective unit).”

Goals from Philip Horton and Bret Halsey gave Virginia a 3-0 advantage, and all three goals for the Cavaliers were the first of the season for their respective scorers. With the win, Virginia improved to 9-0 on the season (3-0 ACC) for the first time since 1993 and have outscored opponents 16-1. The shutout was the fifth straight, and this is Virginia’s best start under Gelnovatch.

Check out the highlights here:

But wait, there’s more! Afamefuma’s goal impressed so much, it earned the top spot on Tuesday night’s SportsCenter Top 10:

Next up, Virginia hopes to stay perfect as they host No. 24 Louisville on Friday night at 7pm.

The Year of the Hoo continues.