Virginia Men's Soccer Earns No. 11 Seed in NCAA Tournament

Matt Newton | 2 Hours Ago

Virginia Athletic

Virginia men's soccer (10-6-3) earned an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, receiving the No. 11 overall seed and a first round bye. The Cavaliers will host the winner of West Virginia and North Florida (who play on Thursday at 7pm in Morgantown, WV) in the second round on Sunday, November 24th at 5pm ET at Klockner Stadium.

Virginia earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third season in a row and this is UVA's 44th all-time NCAA Tournament, good for fourth-most among all college soccer programs. The Cavaliers own a 68-35-6 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, but have not won an NCAA Tournament match in regulation since 2019, when they advanced all the way to the National Championship Game, falling to Georgetown on penalty kicks. UVA is seeking its 14th trip to the College Cup, but first since 2019, and eighth NCAA National Championship, but first since 2014.

Last season, Virginia earned the No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and defeated FIU in the second round 2-1 in overtime before falling to Indiana 1-0 in the third round. This year, UVA has a 10-6-3 overall record and just barely made it into the ACC Tournament with a 3-3-2 conference record. The Cavaliers had a stretch of six-consecutive matches without a victory in the regular season, but then finished strong by winning six of their last seven matches to end the regular season, including ranked wins over Virginia Tech and James Madison.

Virginia continued that momentum into the ACC Tournament as the No. 9 seed, using a quick two-goal burst to take down No. 8 seed NC State 2-1 in the first round and then doing the same thing against the ACC's No. 1 seed Pitt, upending the Panthers for a 2-0 victory in the ACC quarterfinals. The Cavaliers were then blown out by Wake Forest 5-1 in the semifinals of the ACC Championship, but even with that loss, UVA has won eight of its last 10 matches entering the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia will face the winner of West Virginia and North Florida in the second round on Sunday at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers have faced the Mountaineers eight times in history and hold a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1980. Most recently, West Virginia handed UVA a 1-0 loss to open the 2011 season. Virginia and West Virginia have played each other twice in the NCAA Tournament, with the Mountaineers claiming victory over the Cavaliers both times in 1981 and 2007.

Virginia and North Florida have never faced each other in men's soccer.

The winner of Virginia and West Virginia/North Florida will advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and will face either No. 6 Penn, Massachusetts, or Evansville with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. The UVA-Penn region is paired with a region that features No. 3 seed Denver and No. 14 seed Indiana. Those are the two most likely opponents should the Cavaliers reach the quarterfinals.

See the complete bracket for the 2024 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship below:

Official bracket for the 2024 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. / NCAA.com

The Atlantic Coast Conference got nine teams into the 2024 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, including seven of the top 16 national seeds: No. 2 Pittsburgh, No. 8 Wake Forest, No. 9 Clemson, No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Virginia, No. 12 SMU, No. 16 Stanford, North Carolina, and NC State.