Virginia Men’s Soccer earns No. 1 overall seed in NCAA tournament

The ACC tournament champion Virginia Cavaliers are the No. 1 overall seed in the 2019 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament. This is the 39th straight NCAA tournament appearance, the best in the nation. Virginia is one of a record-setting 10 ACC teams in the tournament, leading the way alongside Clemson (No. 2), Wake Forest (No. 4), Virginia Tech (No. 10), Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, NC State, Boston College, and Notre Dame.

Virginia finished the season with a 17-1-1 record, notching a nation’s best 13 shutouts this season. Their defense gave up just seven goals all season, resulting the best goals against average in the country of 0.37.

The Cavaliers have a bye in the first round, and will host the winner of James Madison and Campbell on Sunday at 1pm. Virginia already played JMU once this season, with the Hoos getting the 1-0 victory over the then No. 18 Dukes. Irakoze Donasiyano scored the lone goal in the match on a beautiful outside rip.

St. John’s is the No. 16 seed in Virginia’s bracket, and Wake Forest is the No. 4 seed. ACC teams Syracuse, NC State, and Notre Dame are all also on the Hoos’ side. Virginia will get midfielder Joe Bell back for the NCAA tournament after the fourth year was called up for a couple games for the New Zealand National Team.

Here is the full bracket: