Weekly Release (PDF)
GREENSBORO, N.C. (TheACC.com) – The 2020 ACC Men's Soccer Championship concludes Sunday with a matchup of the nation's top two ranked teams, No. 1 Pitt and No. 2 Clemson, in the title game at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
The 2020 ACC Men’s Soccer Championship will not be open to the public, but ESPNU will have the live television broadcast.
This marks the second straight season that the top two teams in nation will play for the ACC Championship.
Clemson is in search of its 15th ACC Championship, including its fourth tournament title and first since 2014. Pitt is seeking its first crown, as it makes its first championship-game appearance.
2020 ACC Men's Soccer Championship
Pitt vs. Clemson | Noon | ESPNU
Noting ACC Men's Soccer
• Among current ACC programs, Virginia leads with 16 ACC Championships. Clemson is second (14). UVA has captured a league-best 11 tournament titles, while Clemson has won three.
• ACC teams hold the top four spots in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings this week: Pitt (1), Clemson (2), Wake Forest (3) and North Carolina (4).
• This marks the second straight year that the nation's top two teams are playing in the ACC Championship match (No. 2 Virginia 3, No. 1 Clemson 1 in 2019).
• Pitt is ranked No. 1 nationally for the fifth straight week. The Panthers' No. 1 national ranking is their first in program history. Prior to this season, the highest ranking Pitt had received was No. 7 on Oct. 9, 2000.
• Clemson's Kimarni Smith has tied the ACC Championship record for goals in a tournament with four (set four times previously). He scored a hat trick Sunday against Virginia Tech, just the second in ACC Championship history (Ihor Dotsenko of Wake Forest against NC State in 1997 first round).
• Smith also recorded an assist Sunday. His seven points in the match marked an ACC Championship record (previous was six by Dotsenko in 1997).
• With nine points (4-1-9) in the tournament, Smith is two shy of the championship record of 11, set by Virginia's Ben Olson in 1997.
• Smith currently leads the nation in goals (8), while Pitt's Valentin Noel and ND's Jack Lynn are tied for second (7). As a team, Pitt leads the nation in scoring at 3.14 goals per game.
• 22 of the 31 regular-season conference games this season (71%) were determined by one goal or a draw.
• ACC teams played in two regions in an altered league schedule this fall, with six conference games against regional opponents.
• North Region: Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse Virginia, Virginia Tech (play each division opponent once, plus one region home-and-home)
• South Region: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest (play each division opponent once, plus two region home-and-homes)
• Due to a combination of injuries and not all of its members returning for the semester, Boston College did not compete in ACC play this fall.
• Entering the season, six ACC head coaches ranked among the top 35 in NCAA Division I in winning percentage by active head coaches: UNC's Carlos Somoano (2nd, .738), Virginia's George Gelnovatch (ninth, .696), Wake Forest's Bobby Muuss (16th, .669), Pitt's Jay Vidovich (26th, .633), Notre Dame's Chad Riley (31st, .618) and NC State's George Kiefer (32nd, .617).
• ACC teams have captured 17 NCAA men’s soccer titles, including seven of the last 15. The ACC's streak of 17 straight years with at least one team in the NCAA Men’s College Cup was snapped in 2018.
• 10 ACC teams earned bids to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship, the most ever for one league in the tournament. It broke the ACC’s NCAA record of nine bids, set in 2016, 2017 and 2018.