The UMass men's soccer team will look to keep its impressive postseason run going when it matches up against No. 11 Virginia during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division 1 tournament Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

The Minutemen (12-3-5) took down sixth-ranked Penn, 1-0, last Sunday in Philadelphia. UMass hadn't won an NCAA tournament game since 2007 before picking up two victories in four days against Evansville, then Penn.

Now with almost a week between games, UMass hopes it can maintain the good vibes against the Cavaliers.

"We know that we're going to have our hands full with a very good Virginia team," Minutemen head coach Fran O'Leary said. "But we're excited to still be alive in the tournament and looking forward to the challenge.

"I think we've had the benefit of a few days," O'Leary continued. "When we won our first-round game against Evansville, it was a quick turnaround to go and play Penn. It was obviously a terrific night for us to beat the No. 6 seed so it was good for a day. Our guys, we're a pretty mature team, we turned our attention to this game pretty quickly."

Virginia earned an at-large bid into the tournament after compiling a 11-6-3 record. The Cavaliers lost in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals to Wake Forest, 5-1.

With a first-round bye, Virginia beat West Virginia, 2-1, with two unanswered Cavaliers goals in the first half last weekend.

Saturday's meeting will be the first ever between UMass and Virginia. The Cavaliers have won seven NCAA titles, while the Minutemen have qualified for one Final Four in their history (2007).

"They're a very well-coached team," O'Leary said of Virginia. "George [Gelnovatch] has done a terrific job there for many, many years. They have several players who are constantly on the ball. They have good athletes, they are very well organized so we know it's gonna be a tough game for us."

Look for Nick Dang and Paul Wiese to be around the Minutemen net in this one. Dang leads Virginia with six goals while Wiese has the seventh-most assists in team history with 27.

Alec Hughes added to his superb season as UMass' lone goal scorer versus the Quakers. The graduate student now sits with 16 goals on the year and 51 during his five-year career in Amherst.

Goalkeeper Alex Geczy earned his ninth shutout of the season last week, good for second-most in UMass history. 

The Newtown Square, Pa. native has been just about flawless of late, surrendering just three goals in the last seven games.

"A ton of confidence," O'Leary said on Geczy. "He was very good against Evansville, he was very good against Penn, I think it's a big bonus. We feel very strong about the quality of Alex's [play], as we do our entire back four in front of him. They all enjoy defending, they all work together. I think we've had eight, nine or 10 shutouts this season, you don't do that without a good goalkeeper and a good back four."

Kickoff for Saturday's game at Klockner Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m. The winner will meet the winner of No. 3 Denver and No. 14 Indiana in the Elite 8.