Virginia Soccer | Cavaliers Fall to SMU 1-0 in ACC Tournament Final

CARY, N.C. – A penalty kick within the 57^th minute was the distinction in lifting seventh-seeded No. 25 SMU (11-4-4) over top-seeded No. 4 Virginia (12-2-4) within the 2025 ACC Men’s Soccer Championship Final at First Horizon Stadium. The Cavaliers fell to SMU by a rating of 1-0 on Thursday afternoon (Nov. 16) snapping a 14-game unbeaten streak relationship again to August 28.

Goals (Assist)
57’ SMU – Soghomonian (Penalty)

How it Happened:

• The groups performed practically 16 minutes and not using a shot between them, however Cavaliers introduced a spark into the attacking third when AJ Smith bought on the top of a cross from Albin Gashi, however his try glanced extensive of the publish. Minutes later, Marco Dos Santos whipped a low cross into the six-yard field, however between the runs of Smith and Nick Simmonds.
• Virginia created one other harmful likelihood on the counterattack within the 40^th minute when Parker Sloan cleared a ball out of his personal penalty space to the middle circle the place it was flicked on by Smith for Simmonds to run on, however his alternative was minimize off within the SMU penalty space.
• Just shy of the hour mark, SMU was awarded a penalty kick for a foul contained in the penalty space. Casper Mols bought his hand to the following penalty however was unable to maintain it out because the Mustangs took a 1-0 benefit.
• With simply over seven minutes to play within the match, Stephen Hurlock left attributable to damage. With no substitution moments remaining, the Cavaliers performed on with 10 males for the rest of the match. Virginia earned a pair of free kicks deep within the attacking third however had been unable to seek out the again of the web.

Additional Notes:

• The loss snaps a 14-game unbeaten streak for Virginia
• The Cavaliers fall to 10-9-2 in ACC championship video games (11 titles, 10 defeats)
• Virginia has appeared in 21 of 39 ACC championship video games (54 %)
• In 30 years beneath George Gelnovatch, Virginia has reached 15 ACC Championship video games (5 titles, 7 defeats)
• The Cavaliers fall to 3-3-1 in ACC title video games at First Horizon Stadium (4 titles, 3 defeats)
• Jesus De Vicente, Sebastian Pop, and Nick Simmonds had been all named to the ACC All-Tournament Team
• Parker Sloan made his first begin since Sept. 5 at Virginia Tech, Virginia’s ACC opener
• Brendan Lambe made his first begin since Aug. 28 at George Mason
• Virginia managed 58-percent of possession
• Neither staff registered a shot try till the 16^th minute
• Neither staff took a nook within the opening half and every took just one within the second
• SMU held a slight 7-6 benefit in pictures
• Casper Mols made three saves

2025 All-Tournament Team
Slade Starnes, SMU (MVP)
Ryan Clanton-Pimentel, SMU
Martin Dominguez, SMU
Stephan Soghomonian, SMU
Jesus De Vicente, Virginia
Sebastian Pop, Virginia
Nick Simmonds, Virginia
Beau Morrison, California
Gaku Nishimura, California
Tim Brdaric, Syracuse
Tomas Hut, Syracuse

From Head Coach George Gelnovatch:
“Congratulations to SMU. They’re a good team. We knew that. This was a difficult game for us to lose on a pen like that. So, my heart goes out to our team, who I thought, similar to what I’ve said all season is that the longer we get through the first half and control the game, wear them down, get our goal or two, and that’s kind of how we’ve operated. That pen threw a wrench into the plan. Obviously, I’m worried about Stephen Hurlock with his injury. That was our last opportunity to make a change inside of 10 minutes. So we couldn’t replace him. We had to play down a man. I’ll also say it’s really hard to go into this postseason, meaning the NCAA Tournament, without setback. And today is a setback, which I hope, and think will reinvigorate us. I mean, I’m not sure if that’s what we needed, but I’m sure it will be a motivational thing, and we’ll be back here four weeks.”

Up Next:
The 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship bracket might be introduced Monday (Nov. 17) previous to the primary spherical of competitors. The choice present is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be streamed dwell on NCAA.com.