UVA's Will Bates Named to All-ACC First Team

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia senior Will Bates (Chester, Va.) has been named to the All-ACC First Team as part of the 2012 All-ACC Men’s Soccer Teams, which were announced Thursday by the conference office. UVa’s Darius Madison (Philadelphia, Pa.), Marcus Salandy-Defour (Kensington, Md.) and Todd Wharton (Glen Allen, Va.) also were named to the 2012 All-ACC Freshman Team.

Bates was named First-Team All-ACC for the second straight season; he also was a second-team honoree in 2009. He currently ranks second in the ACC with 11 goals this season and is third in the conference in points with 23. A member of the Hermann Trophy Watch List, Bates is seventh in career goals (45) and 10th in career points (100) at Virginia. 

Three of Bates’ 11 scores this year have been game winners (Duke, Mount St. Mary’s, High Point). The forward has played in 17 of the Cavaliers’ matches, with 14 consecutive starts, after returning from a knee injury suffered late in the 2011 season.

Madison has played in 14 matches and owns a pair of goals this year. The speedy forward scored his first goal against Mount St. Mary’s and recorded the golden goal in double overtime in the win over NC State on Nov. 1. 

Salandy-Defour has scored two goals and added three assists this year. The midfielder ranks third on the team with seven points this year. He is one of three Cavaliers to have started all 18 matches this season and leads the team’s midfielders in minutes played (1,593).  

Wharton also has played in all 18 matches in the Cavaliers’ midfield, starting the last 15. He owns one goal this year, which was the game winner against Drexel on Sept. 18. Wharton ranks third on the team in minutes played (1,489).

Virginia (9-6-3), the sixth seed in the conference tournament, will play in the ACC semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday against second-seeded North Carolina at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md. Top-seeded Maryland and fourth-seeded Clemson will play the second game at 8 p.m. Both matches will air online via ESPN3. The winners advance to play for the conference championship at noon Sunday on ESPNU.