ACC men’s soccer notebook

Weekend Schedule
Friday, August 29
Niagara at Syracuse, 2:00 p.m.
Iona at Boston College, 4:00 p.m.
#1 Notre Dame vs. #12 Marquette (Bloomington, Ind.), 5:00 p.m.
Virginia Tech at SIU-Edwardsville, 7:00 p.m.
#7 California at #22 North Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
Radford at Clemson, 7:00 p.m.
Valparaiso at NC State, 7:00 p.m.
Loyola Marymount at Duke, 7:30 p.m.
#4 UCLA at #11 Wake Forest, 7:30 p.m.
#2 Maryland at # 14 Louisville, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
#25 Old Dominion at #3 Virginia, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 30
Presbyterian at Pitt, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, August 31
#1 Notre Dame vs. #9 Georgetown (Bloomington, Ind.), 11:30 a.m.
Fordham at Boston College, 2:00 p.m.
Stetson at Duke, 2:30 p.m.
Cal Poly at NC State, 5:00 p.m.
Virginia Tech at St. Louis, 7:00 p.m.
#7 California at #11 Wake Forest, 7:00 p.m.
St. Mary’s at Syracuse, 7:00 p.m.
#4 UCLA at #22 North Carolina, 7:00 p.m.

OPENING WEEKEND
· The first weekend of the 2014 season has 20 games on tap, including 11 on Friday. The slate includes eight games against ranked nonconference opponents, six of which are ranked in the top 10.

ACC IN THE POLLS
· Seven different league teams are ranked in at least one national poll, with five holding a spot in a top 10.

· Notre Dame is No. 1 in two polls – NSCAA and Top Drawer – while Virginia is a consensus top five choice.

LOUISVILLE’S DEBUT
· #14 Louisville takes on #2 Maryland on Friday, the first game as a member of the ACC for the Cardinals.

NEW DIVISIONS, TOURNAMENT
· 2014 will see a new format for ACC Men’s Soccer, the first year for the league under divisional format. Each team will play every other squad in its division, plus three crossover games. The two division winners are guaranteed one of the top two seeds for the ACC Championship.

· The tournament format will also be new this year, with an expanded 10-team bracket. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, there will be two games: No. 7 vs. No. 10, and No. 8 vs. No. 9. The quarterfinals will be held on Sunday, Nov. 9, the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14, and the championship will be on Sunday, Nov. 16.

2013 RECAP
· A national-best six ACC squads earned NCAA bids in 2013. Three advanced to the NCAA College Cup, marking the 13th straight year with at least one league team in the semifinals. Notre Dame’s championship marked the sixth title by an ACC team in the last nine years and the 16th in league history.