The narrative is getting stale by now. Virginia’s men’s soccer team keeps blistering through the regular season, keeps earning a high seed in the NCAA Tournament — a first-round bye in four straight years. But then the train screeches to a halt on the rails.
The Cavaliers have not won more than one game in the NCAA Tournament since 2019, and their tumble last season may have been the most frustrating of all. After nabbing the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament — thanks to an ACC regular-season crown and an ACC Tournament final appearance — Virginia lost to UNC Greensboro in its opening game, falling early. Again.
Four games into the season, Virginia, which started the year ranked No. 11, is unranked after losses to No. 17 UCLA, No. 9 High Point and unranked Florida Gulf Coast with only one win over American. Is this the year for a breakthrough? Three beat writers discuss.
In each of the past four years, Virginia has played a top-eight strength of schedule. What jumps out at you looking at this year’s schedule?
Mofe Akande, Staff Writer: Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers are launching their campaign this fall with seven straight home games spanning almost a full month. Virginia enjoyed an unbeaten streak of 11 matches at the familiar environment last season as they hope to replicate the same success. After the opening losses, Virginia needs to find its footing, and there's no better place to do that than at Klöckner. Fans bringing a new uproar and fresh intensity as the season opens up will translate to the players on the pitch. Although some may say it would be best if the team is battle tested in hostile environments early on, once the Cavaliers are able to find their flow, they will be hard to beat regardless of location.
Jordan Zimm, Staff Writer: The Cavaliers were tested early — very early. Just four days after opening against a UCLA team that finished in the top 30 RPI rankings last season, Virginia had a date with No. 16 High Point at Klöckner Stadium. There was no time for this talented and promising Cavalier team to ease into the season against lesser opponents. Virginia was thrown into the fire immediately. The narrow loss to the Panthers especially felt like a game that could define a season — despite being played in August. A strong performance would have built early confidence for a program that has lacked it down the stretch in past seasons. Instead, Virginia put itself in a hole early.
Noah Cinel, Staff Writer: Seven straight home games gives Virginia an intriguing start to the season. While it could offer the Cavaliers a little more time to settle into the season and pick up some momentum, it also means their first taste of a hostile environment does not come until nearly a month into the campaign. Will Virginia know how to play away from Klöckner when the team suddenly has to? Or, will they fall victim to getting too comfortable too early on? After seven straight home games, trips to Wake Forest and No. 1 Stanford six days apart, both of which being potential ACC and NCAA tournament previews, could prove extremely tricky if the Cavaliers get too used to playing at home.
Coach George Gelnovatch and his staff added three spring transfers and then an eight-player signing class this fall. Which new player makes you most excited?
MA: The squad's midfield took a significant blow from the end of last season with key departures from notable captains, Albin Gashi and Umberto Pelà. To counter the punch, Gelnovatch and staff were able to cash in on a new attacking weapon, junior Arnold Matshazi. The transfer netted 12 goals last season for San Jose State, proving he has the potential to make an immediate impact for the Cavaliers. Matshazi is fresh off being named to the Hermann Trophy Midfielders watchlist, and it will be exciting to see how quick he will be able to rack up goal contributions for Virginia after also losing stud Nicholas Simmonds to the MLS this past winter.
JZ: The arrival of freshman midfielder Diego Guerra gives the Cavaliers an intriguing piece for this upcoming season, especially with the significant hit in the midfield this offseason. The Brazilian midfielder has already notched 68 appearances for the professional club Retrô FC, including 17 appearances in 2024 that helped Retrô win the Brazilian Série D title. That experience doesn’t qualify Guerra as a bona fide centerpiece of Virginia’s midfield, but it gives him a strong and impressive foundation to build upon with the help of Coach Gelnovatch and the rest of one of the best coaching staffs in the country.
NC: Having lost Gashi and Pelá, the vacancy in Virginia’s midfield could provide an opportunity for Ethan Martinez to step up. Despite being a freshman last season at Santa Clara, Martinez started all 18 games, leading the team with 1,602 minutes while recording four assists. Evidently, despite his youth, Martinez’s already proven experience and reliability could be key in restoring stability in the center of the pitch. With much attention understandably going toward how Virginia can replace Simmonds’ scoring, I feel that Martinez, if given the chance, may quietly slip under the radar as a player really holding it all together.
What’s the biggest storyline for this program heading into the season?
MA: Seven years removed from playing in the national championship, the program has had its difficulties in finding its way back to the promised land and delivering Virginia’s first championship since 2014. The biggest storyline will be how Virginia will be able to not only respond after a disappointing second-round exit, but how they will also be able to convert regular season success to ACC tournament and NCAA tournament success. The Cavaliers will always be in the mix as title contenders as long as Coach George Gelnovatch is at the helm, but how they will handle the pressure in monumental moments is only something time will tell as the season unfolds.
JZ: Will Virginia find success when it matters most? At the end of the day, a historic program is often judged by what it accomplishes when the stakes are highest. Virginia has put together 10-plus win seasons each of the last three years, but that regular-season success has yet to translate into a deep NCAA Tournament run. The Cavaliers have failed to qualify past the Sweet Sixteen in nine of the last 10 seasons, leaving plenty still to prove come November. Proving that Virginia is still an elite program won’t be that easy for the 2026 season. But with a roster filled with talent and a challenging schedule to come, the Cavaliers have no reason why they can’t be the kings of men’s college soccer once again.
NC: Can Virginia reload without having to rebuild? Last year, Virginia went 12-2-5, went unbeaten in regular season ACC play 5-0-3 and reached the ACC final. While expectations for this team are still sky-high, a majority of the group responsible for these achievements is gone. Simmonds, the scorer of 10 goals and No. 3 pick in the MLS SuperDraft. Pelá, the contributor of four goals and six assists. Other notable names are gone as well. In fact, the Cavaliers only return four players who started 10 or more games last season — Alex Parvu, Sebastian Pop, Zach Ehrenpreis and Marco Dos Santos. Fortunately, the cavalry is on the way as Virginia's eight-man freshman class is ranked No. 5 nationally. However, it’ll be interesting to see if Gelnovatch can quickly turn that talent into production and reinvent the team from day one.
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