CARY, N.C. (SMU) – No. 25 SMU Men's Soccer is set to take on No. 4 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship final at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., on Sunday.

This will be SMU's second meeting against Virginia this season after hosting the Cavaliers in its regular-season finale. The match will kick off at 12 pm CT and will be aired on ESPNU.

The Mustangs advanced in the tournament after winning 5-1 against No. 6 seed Syracuse in the semifinal round on Thursday.

Mustangs vs. Cavaliers History

• This will be the sixth meeting between the Mustangs and the Cavaliers.
• Their first meeting in the ACC Championship.
• SMU and Virginia met in their final regular season match on Oct. 31. UVA won 1-0.
• The two teams met in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019. The Mustangs lost 3-2 in overtime against then-No. 1 Virginia.
• The Mustangs' first meeting against Virginia was in 1987, when the Mustangs won 1-0 at home against the then top-ranked UVA.

Talking Stats

• Stephan Soghomonian is SMU's leading goalscorer with 12 goals. He is the second-top scorer in the ACC.
• Villads Landsperg has played the most minutes for SMU this season, with 1608 minutes in 18 matches. He's only missed five game minutes all season and played full 90 minutes in 16 matches.

Regular Season Finale Rematch

• SMU hosted Virginia on Oct. 31. The Cavaliers won 1-0 with a goal in the 84th minute.
• The Mustangs controlled 58 percent of the possession and outshot Virginia nine to four.

Postseason Awards

• SMU has three players who earned All-ACC honors.
• Slade Starnes and Stephan Soghomonian were named in the Second Team All-ACC.
• Charles-Emile Brunet was named to the Third Team All-ACC.

Postseason Notes

• SMU has won 10 conference tournament titles.
• This will be SMU's first appearance in the ACC Championship final. The only other SMU program to have made an ACC Championship game was SMU football in 2024.
• The Mustangs made the quarterfinals in their first ACC Championship. They were eliminated by Wake Forest in the quarterfinal round on a penalty shootout in their first season.

SMU vs Syracuse Notes

• SMU will make its first ACC Championship final appearance after its 5-1 win over Syracuse in the semifinals.
• The Mustangs will take on Virginia in the ACC Championship final.
• All five of SMU's goals were scored by different players.
• Stephan Soghomonian scored his 12th goal of the season and has scored a goal in the last three matches.
• Ryan Clanton-Pimentel scored his first goal for SMU in his first multi-goal-contribution game (1 goal, 2 assists).
• Alex Salvo recorded his first assist of the season.
• Slade Starnes recorded his first assist for SMU.
• Head Coach Kevin Hudson now has eight seasons in which he has won 10 games or more.

Stepped Up

• Stephan Soghomonian leads SMU with 12 goals this season.
• He was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 and Oct. 21.
• He is the ACC's second top scorer in conference play with six goals against ACC teams in the regular season.
• Soghomonian is on a three match scoring streak.
• Scored a hat trick against California (Oct. 3) and Boston College (Oct. 18).
• He became the first Mustang to score a hat trick after almost two years in the Mustangs' 4-0 win against Cal on Oct. 3.
• The previous Mustang to score a hat trick was Jelldrik Dallmann against Temple on Nov. 9, 2023.
• He scored his hat trick against Cal from the bench with only 44 minutes of play time.

Slade Bosses The Backline

• Slade Starnes was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week twice on Sep. 30 and Oct. 28.
• He captained the Mustangs' defensive line to hand No. 1 Stanford to its only two shutouts and first draw and loss at home this season.
• He and the Mustangs' backline have contained opponents to an average of only 8.7 shot attempts per game. Limiting five teams (Boston College, Cal, LMU, Oral Roberts and Virginia) to five shot attempts or less.

SMU vs Top 25 Opponents

• SMU is 2-1-3 against Top-25 teams this season.
• The Mustangs won 1-0 against No. 7 Stanford in the ACC Championship quarterfinals.
• SMU grabbed its first ranked win at No. 21 Notre Dame (Sep. 27).
• The Mustangs drew 1-1 against No. 2 Clemson and they also drew No. 18 Kansas City 2-2 to kick off the season.
• SMU was 4-3-3 against top 25 opponents last season after falling in the NCAA Quarterfinals to No. 8 Marshall.

Scouting Virginia

• ACC Regular season champions Virginia advanced to the championship game after defeating Cal 2-1 in the semifinals.
• Virginia's offense is led by freshman Nicholas Simmonds, who has scored nine goals this season.

FIFA World Cup At Washburne Stadium

• Washburne Stadium will be an official training ground for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.