Previewing the 2024 Virginia Men's Soccer Season

A preview of the roster and schedule for the 2024 UVA Men's Soccer team.

Senior defender Paul Wiese headlines a solid group of returners for the 2024 Virginia men's soccer team. / Virginia Athletics

Last season, Virginia men's soccer fell short of a trip to the College Cup after a tough 1-0 loss to Indiana at home in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the Cavaliers losing their top two strikers Stephen Annor Gyamfi and Leo Afonso, starting goalkeeper Holden Brown and starting center back Aidan O’Connor to the MLS, Virginia will look to reload and immediately jump back into the mix as a title contender. The Cavaliers also lost ACC Co-Midfielder of the year Mouhameth Thiam and center back William Citron. 

With the Cavaliers coming into this season ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, expectations are high for Virginia once again. 

For starters, Virginia returns goalkeeper Joey Batrouni who played much of last season in place of the injured Holden Brown. Batrouni has proven himself a capable goaltender, with performances such as a 13-save showing in a 1-1 loss to Syracuse in the ACC tournament last year. 

In front of the junior netminder, Austin Rome returns for this senior season and will look to command a young group of center backs. Last season, head coach George Gelnovatch often opted for three center backs which leaves starting spots open for Coastal Carolina transfer Luc Mikula and Virginia Tech transfer Grant Howard, who both started in every match last season for their respective programs. Lipscomb transfer Nick Dang, who received first-team All-ASUN his freshman year, is another candidate to fill the void.

As for the rest of the center backs on the roster, no one has played a single minute of collegiate soccer making it difficult to predict who will break through. Potential candidates to compete for a spot at center back include freshman Alex Parvu and Jed Akwaboah with Parvu being a member of the U19 New England Revolution MLS Next Cup Champion winning team and Akwaboah serving as the New York Red Bulls U17 Captain. 

As for the fullbacks, Paul Wiese will command the right side while serving as team captain for the 2024 season. In 2023, Wiese led the team with eight assists, which was good for fifth most assists in the ACC. On the left side expect a combination of juniors Reese Miller and Parker Sloan with Miller known for his quickness in more of an attacking role while Sloan serves as more of a defensively solid left back. 

At midfield, the Cavaliers return Brendan Lambe, who received All-ACC freshman honors last season. Joining Lambe are fifth year Daniel Mangarov and juniors Umberto Pelá and Albin Gashi, who both played considerable minutes last season and will look to continue to solidify Virginia centrally. Fun fact, Mangarov has netted the first goal for the Cavaliers in each of the last two seasons. 

Joining those four is Harvard transfer William Ebbinge, an attacking midfielder who recorded one goal and five assists last season for the Crimson. Graduate student Garrett Socas is another candidate to garner minutes this season in the midfield after starting two games last season. 

In attack, with Stephen Annor Gyamfi and Leo Afonso gone, Kome Ubogu steps into the spotlight with the potential to be Virginia’s primary striker after scoring 11 goals over the last three seasons. Triton Beauvois should also help fill the void, returning to play after suffering a season-ending ACL injury last year against Duke. 

Boston College transfer Drew Serafino and sophomore striker Ignacio Alem will both look to break into the starting lineup as well. Serafino missed all of last year due to injury while Alem featured in five games last season. 

As for the freshman, Joaquín Brizuela joins the squad traveling from Mendoza, Argentina. Brizuela was the top scorer on the U18 Godoy Cruz team in a National tournament and will look to bring firepower and depth to the Virginia attack. 

As for the schedule, Virginia will face five ranked opponents this season, which includes No. 5 Stanford, No. 15 Wake Forest, No. 18 James Madison, No. 20 Duke, and No. 25 Syracuse. Luckily for the Cavaliers, four of these games will be at home, where the Cavaliers have lost just four matches over the last two seasons.

Virginia men's soccer starts its 2024 campaign on Thursday, August 22nd at 7pm (ACCNX) against Rider at Klöckner Stadium.