2023 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team

The 2023 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represented the University of Virginia during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Cavaliers were led by head coach George Gelnovatch, in his twenty-eighth season. They played their home games at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. This was the team's 83rd season playing organized men's college soccer and their 72nd playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.^[1]

2023 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Third Round
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	11–4–4 (5–2–1 ACC)
Head coach	George Gelnovatch (28th season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Chulis (17th season) Adam Perron (4th season) Jermaine Birriel (1st season)
Home stadium	Klöckner Stadium
Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

2023 ACC men's soccer standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Atlantic
No. 15 Wake Forest +	4	–	1	–	3			11	–	3	–	5
No. 1 Clemson ‡	4	–	2	–	2			15	–	3	–	5
No. 25 Syracuse +	2	–	1	–	5			9	–	5	–	7
No. 24 Louisville +	2	–	4	–	2			12	–	6	–	3
NC State	1	–	5	–	2			6	–	9	–	3
Boston College	0	–	5	–	3			3	–	9	–	5
Coastal
No. 2 Notre Dame +	6	–	0	–	2			13	–	3	–	6
No. 13 Virginia +	5	–	2	–	1			11	–	4	–	4
No. 20 Duke+	4	–	3	–	1			11	–	4	–	3
No. 6 North Carolina +	2	–	3	–	3			11	–	3	–	7
Pittsburgh +	2	–	3	–	3			6	–	7	–	4
Virginia Tech	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	9	–	4
‡ – ACC tournament champion + – Also invited to the 2023 NCAA tournament As of December 12, 2023 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: The ACC

The Cavaliers finished the season 11–4–4 overall and 5–2–1 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. As the third overall seed in the ACC Tournament they earned a bye to the Quarterfinals where they were defeated by sixth seed Syracuse in penalties. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and they were the seventh overall seed. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they received a first round bye as the fourth overall seed but then lost in the Second Round to Marshall in another penalty shootout to end their season.

Background

Main article: 2022 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team

The Cavaliers finished the season 10–4–5 overall and 5–1–2 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. As the third overall seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated sixth seed Pittsburgh in the Quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions Syracuse on penalties in the Semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the First Round to Western Michigan to end their season.

Player movement

Players leaving

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Isaiah Byrd	3	MF	6'0"	175	Junior	Gainesville, Virginia	Transferred to Virginia Tech
Jeremy Verley	6	MF	5'11"	165	Senior	Kingston, Jamaica	Graduated
Erick Kilosho	8	MF	5'8"	165	Sophomore	Roanoke, Virginia	Transferred to George Mason
Philip Horton	9	FW	6'0"	185	Junior	New Albany, Ohio	Signed Professional Contract with FC Cincinnati 2[2]
Asparuh Slavov	10	MF	6'0"	175	Sophomore	Alpharetta, Georgia	Transferred to George Mason
Kevin Ogudugu	11	FW/MF	5'9"	170	Junior	Oslo, Norway	Transferred to Northeastern
Moritz Kappelsberger	13	DF	6'3"	207	Graduate Student	Rosenheim, Germany	Graduated
Andreas Ueland	17	DF	6'5"	190	Senior	Bryne, Norway	Graduated; selected 68th overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Cabrel Happi Kamseu	20	FW	6'3"	185	Graduate Student	Harare, Zimbabwe	Graduated
Nils Henry Orywol	21	MF/DF	5'10"	160	Sophomore	Frankfurt, Germany	Transferred to Tulsa
Andy Sullins	25	FW	6'2"	180	Freshman	Athens, Tennessee	Transferred to Virginia Tech
Owen Walz	27	MF	5'6"	150	Freshman	Arlington, Virginia	Transferred to University of San Diego
Henry van Wincoop	28	FW	5'10"	170	Sophomore	Charlottesville, Virginia	—
Truman Glenovatch	35	FW	5'10"	185	Graduate Student	Miami, Florida	Graduated

Players arriving

Incoming Transfers

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Joey Batrouni	0	GK	6'1"	178	Junior	San Antonio, Texas	Coastal Carolina
Mouhameth Thiam	11	MF	5'5"	142	Senior	Dakar, Senegal	Oregon State
Elias Norris	21	FW	5'10"	155	Graduate Student	Bethesda, Maryland	George Washington
Garrett Socas	24	MF	6'2"	172	Graduate Student	McLean, Virginia	Dartmouth
Jack Singer	27	MF	6'1"	175	Graduate Student	San Francisco, California	California
Austin Rome	33	DF	6'3"	185	Junior	Bowie, Maryland	Providence

Recruiting Class

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Ignacio Alem FW	USA	Potomac, Maryland	D.C. United Academy	[3]
Stephen Annor Gyamfi FW	GHA	Accra, Ghana	SIMA	[4]
Cesar Cordova FW	USA	Houston, Texas	Houston Dynamo 2	[5]
Brendan Lambe MF	USA	Apex, North Carolina	Atlanta United 2	[6]
Donovan Maryat DF	USA	Brooklyn, New York	Met Oval	[7]
John Talley MF	USA	Memphis, Tennessee	Memphis 901 FC	[8]
Matthew Thissell MF	USA	Ashburn, Virginia	Bethesda Academy	[9]
Caleb Tunks GK	USA	Kailua-Kona, Hawaii	Solar SC	[10]

Squad

Roster

As of January 26, 2024^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK  USA Joey Batrouni 00 GK  USA Caleb Tunks 1 GK  USA Scott Williams 2 DF  USA William Citron 3 MF  USA Max Talley 4 DF  GER Paul Wiese 5 DF  USA Aidan O'Connor 7 FW  BRA Leo Afonso 8 MF  USA Brendan Lambe 9 FW  GHA Stephen Annor Gyamfi 10 MF  NOR Axel Ahlander 11 MF  SEN Mouhameth Thiam 12 MF  SWE Albin Gashi 13 FW  USA Cesar Cordova 15 FW  USA Triton Beauvois 16 MF  USA Daniel Mangarov 17 DF  CAN Victor Akoum 18 FW  USA Kome Ubogu

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  USA Reese Miller 20 FW  USA Ignacio Alem 21 MF  USA Elias Norris 22 FW  USA Michael Tsicoulias 23 FW  USA David Okorie 24 MF  USA Garrett Socas 25 DF  USA Donovan Maryat 26 MF  USA Amari Salley 27 MF  USA Jack Singer 28 MF  USA Matthew Thissell 29 DF  USA Yassine Rhoumar 30 GK  USA Colin Gallagher 31 MF  ITA Umberto Pelà 32 FW  USA Parker Sloan 33 DF  USA Austin Rome 34 MF  USA Miguel Kobby Adoboe 46 DF  USA Matthew Hunter 99 GK  USA Holden Brown

Team management

Position	Staff
Head coach	George Gelnovatch
Associate Head Coach	Matt Chulis
Associate Head Coach	Adam Perron
Assistant coach	Jermaine Birriel

Source:^[11]

Schedule

Source:^[12]

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Regular Season
August 24* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 15	Iona	W 1–0	1–0–0	Klöckner Stadium (1,980) Charlottesville, VA
August 27* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 15	Loyola Marymount	L 1–3	1–1–0	Klöckner Stadium (1,445) Charlottesville, VA
August 31* 8:00 p.m., ACCNX		George Mason	W 1–0	2–1–0	Klöckner Stadium (1,473) Charlottesville, VA
September 4* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		No. 20 Maryland Rivalry	W 2–1	3–1–0	Klöckner Stadium (2,139) Charlottesville, VA
September 8 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		at No. 10 Duke	L 0–2	3–2–0 (0–1–0)	Koskinen Stadium (1,569) Durham, NC
September 12* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 9 James Madison	T 1–1	3–2–1	Sentara Park (1,464) Harrisonburg, VA
September 16 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		NC State	W 3–1	4–2–1 (1–1–0)	Klöckner Stadium (2,319) Charlottesville, VA
September 22 8:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 15 Notre Dame	L 1–3	4–3–1 (1–2–0)	Alumni Stadium (1,710) Notre Dame, IN
September 26* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		ETSU	W 1–0	5–3–1	Klöckner Stadium (1,400) Charlottesville, VA
September 29 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		No. 8 Louisville	W 3–0	6–3–1 (2–2–0)	Klöckner Stadium (1,761) Charlottesville, VA
October 3* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		No. 16 Hofstra	T 1–1	6–3–2	Klöckner Stadium (1,092) Charlottesville, VA
October 6 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		at Boston College	T 1–1	6–3–3 (2–2–1)	Newton Campus Soccer Field (712) Chestnut Hill, MA
October 13 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		No. 11 Pittsburgh	W 2–1	7–3–3 (3–2–1)	Klöckner Stadium (2,551) Charlottesville, VA
October 20 6:00 p.m., ACCNX		at Virginia Tech Rivalry	W 3–0	8–3–3 (4–2–1)	Thompson Field (2,061) Blacksburg, VA
October 24* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 14	High Point	W 3–1	9–3–3	Klöckner Stadium (1,094) Charlottesville, VA
October 27 7:30 p.m., ACCN	No. 14	No. 10 North Carolina	W 1–0	10–3–3 (5–2–1)	Klöckner Stadium (2,487) Charlottesville, VA
ACC Tournament
November 5 2:00 p.m., ACCN	(3) No. 9	(6) No. 22 Syracuse Quarterfinals	T 1–1 (3–4 PKs) 2OT	10–3–4	Klöckner Stadium (2,106) Charlottesville, VA
NCAA Tournament
November 19 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	(7) No. 11	FIU Second Round	W 2–1 2OT	11–3–4	Klöckner Stadium (1,372) Charlottesville, VA
November 25 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	(7) No. 11	Indiana Third Round	L 0–1	11–4–4	Klöckner Stadium (2,746) Charlottesville, VA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Leo Afonso	Pre-Season All-ACC Team	August 26	[13]
Stephen Annor Gyamfi	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	September 19	[14]
Joey Batrouni	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	October 3	[15]
Mouhameth Thiam	ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week	October 17	[16]
Stephen Annor Gyamfi	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	October 24	[17]
Mouhameth Thiam	ACC Co-Midfielder of the Year	November 8	[18]
Stephen Annor Gyamfi	Freshman of the Year
Mouhameth Thiam	All-ACC First Team
Stephen Annor Gyamfi
Brendan Lambe	All-ACC Freshman Team
Stephen Annor Gyamfi

2024 MLS Super Draft

Main article: 2024 MLS SuperDraft

Player	Team	Round	Pick #	Position
Aidan O'Connor	New York Red Bulls	1	12	DF
Stephen Annor Gyamfi	Houston Dynamo	1	26	FW
Leo Afonso	Inter Miami	2	32	FW

Source:^[19]

Rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
United Soccer[20]	15	RV	—	—	RV	—	RV	—	18	14	9	11	Not released				13
TopDrawer Soccer[21]	—	—	—	—	22	—	—	—	22	12	9	12	15	9	12	12	12

References

1. "Historical Information". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
2. "FC Cincinnati 2 sign Philip Horton, add Grayson Dupont on short-term loan deal". fccincinnati.com. June 16, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
3. "Ignacio Alem". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
4. "Stephen Annor". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
5. "Cesar Cordova". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
6. "Brendan Lambe". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
7. "Donovan Maryat". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
8. "John Talley". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
9. "Matthew Thissell". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
10. "Caleb Tunks". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
11. "2023 Men's Soccer Roster". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
12. "2023 Men's Soccer Schedule". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
13. "Clemson Selected 2023 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
14. "UVa's Annor Gyamfi, VT's Adams Earn ACC Men's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 18, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
15. "Duke's Pariano, UVa's Batrouni Named ACC Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
16. "ACC Announces Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
17. "UVa's Annor Gyamfi, UNC's Cordes Earn ACC Men's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
18. "2023 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
19. "Three Cavaliers Selected in 2024 MLS SuperDraft". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. December 19, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
20. "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
21. "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.