The NCAA News - News Features

Division I

Revenge-minded Virginia looks to reclaim hold on national championship

EVENT: 1996 Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

OVERVIEW: Virginia's 3-2 loss to Duke in last year's semifinals was regarded as one of the most exciting games in tournament history, but it also provided the impetus for the Cavaliers to recapture the throne they had held since 1991. Virginia has glided through a strong field of competition in 1996 on its way to a 15-0-3 mark, including a 6-1 defeat of Duke in October. In that game, the Cavaliers scored five second-half goals on five consecutive shots to break a 1-1 deadlock and clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference title. Virginia has two of the top five assist leaders in Division I: Mike Fisher with 18 and Ben Olsen with 16. Goalkeeper Yuri Sagatov also ranks among statistical leaders with a 0.71 goals-against average. Virginia's three ties were against Cal State Fullerton, Maryland and North Carolina. The Cavaliers have won nine straight since the 3-3 tie with the Tar Heels .... Chances are that the other semifinalists will be first-timers. In the November 4 coaches' top-25 poll, Washington, Air Force, St. John's (New York) and North Carolina-Greensboro ranked Nos. 2 through 5, and none ever has advanced to the national semifinals. Washington and St. John's have hovered in the top 10 most of the season. Washington is 14-2, including victories over Clemson, Penn State, Wisconsin and UCLA. The Huskies' attack is anchored by forwards Jason Boyce and Rees Beltinger, who have combined for 17 goals and 10 assists. Air Force is 13-1-3 with key victories against Southern Methodist and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Falcons, unranked going into the season, have emerged behind 13 goals from Ryan Schaeffer and nine more from Drew Dougherty .... Besides the potential newcomers, some former champions might challenge Virginia for supremacy, including Indiana and UCLA. Other teams to watch include William and Mary, Harvard, Florida International, and Southern Methodist.

FIELD: Thirty-two teams from eight regions will be selected November 18. Twelve conferences will receive automatic qualification and eight additional conferences will compete in play-ins for the four other berths. The other 16 teams will be selected at large.

DATES AND SITES: Preliminary-round games will be played at on-campus sites. First-round games will be completed by November 24, second-round games by December 1 and third-round games by December 8. The semifinals and final will be December 13 and 15 at Richmond.

TELEVISION COVERAGE: The semifinals will be broadcast tape-delayed on Prime Network at noon and 2:30 p.m. (Eastern time) December 14; the championship will be televised live on Prime at 1:30 p.m. December 15.

INFORMATION/RESULTS: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1756 for bracket/schedule, 5143 for semifinal results and 5144 for championship-game results. Game scores and pairings also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championship results will be published in the December 23 issue of The NCAA News.

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: Virginia's five titles are second to Saint Louis' 10, but the Cavaliers are tops in consecutive tournament appearances with 15. UCLA is second with 13, followed by Saint Louis with 10 and Indiana nine .... More than 19,000 tickets have been sold for the finals at Richmond, and tournament organizers expect that the event will sell out for the fifth consecutive year. Richmond will be host for the finals through 1998.