The Virginia men’s soccer team began the second half of its season Tuesday night at Klöckner Stadium with a widening chasm between its record and its reputation. On paper, the Cavaliers are a force to be reckoned with; a team blending youthful skill and veteran savvy, poised to build on last season’s College Cup appearance. But the scoreboard has been telling a different tale, that of a team struggling to establish an identity and achieve consistent offensive success.
As a season defined by sky-high expectations and increasingly unsatisfying results reached its midpoint, Tuesday offered both a piercing reminder of what has gone wrong and a much-needed refresher of why those expectations existed in the first place. For more than 88 minutes, Virginia played out a familiar script, often dominating play while simultaneously trailing in the only stat that matters – goals, 1-0. With less than two minutes remaining, it appeared the Cavaliers were headed for yet another tough-luck loss.
Darius Madison had other ideas.
The junior forward brought his team back from the brink with a dramatic equalizer in the 88th minute, rescuing the Cavaliers from the ignominious distinction of suffering three straight losses for the first time in a decade. With the home crowd rocking and the Dukes stunned, Madison capped the incredible turnaround by scoring the golden goal off a header from the penalty stripe just seven minutes into overtime, sending Virginia to its most thrilling win of the season and fulfilling a halftime prediction made by coach George Gelnovatch.
Gelnovatch, in his 19th year at the helm, calmly delivered a message at the break: score once and this game is yours. That forecast proved prescient. After a night filled with near-misses, close calls, squandered opportunities and occasional offensive stagnation, Madison scored twice in a span of just 10 minutes on the field.
“I felt like the one would break them a little bit,” the two-time ACC Coach of the Year said. “We waited until the last minute and a half, got the the one and I think it broke them a little bit.”
Madison’s first goal was the product of opportunity, his second the result of artistry. The equalizer came on a ball batted away by Dukes sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Morton. As the ball deflected dangerously back up the middle, Madison charged and lifted the ball far out of reach of a recovering Morton. During extra time, senior captain Eric Bird whipped a well-placed cross from the right side to a waiting Madison, who headed it past a helpless keeper into the top corner of the net for the winner.
“That header was top-class,” said senior goalkeeper Calle Brown, who finished with six saves. “I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”
The late-game heroics by Madison salvaged an often frustrating night for Virginia. James Madison peppered the net throughout an impressive first-half, creating repeated opportunities against the Cavalier defense. During the first 12 minutes alone, the Dukes clanged a shot off the post and hit two more past Brown which went just wide. Then in the 16th minute, senior forward Jamal Umar cracked a powerful strike from just outside the box into the back of the net, putting Virginia into a precarious position.
“This is a very difficult team to play against,” Gelnovatch said. “It’s like a fifth division English team: big, strong. The worst thing you can do is give up a goal, which I thought was a mistake. You give up a goal and now they’re very resolute on defending and countering.”
James Madison committed to a physical defensive style of play after grabbing the early lead, creating a contentious back-and-forth between the two teams which at times served as an ironic tribute to the NCAA Sportsmanship Week festivities accompanying the game. After racking up a combined 11 fouls in the opening period, five different players were assessed yellow cards in the second period. The game’s physicality ignited a once listless crowd and made the end result all the more satisfying.
“This team was not easy to break down,” Gelnovatch said. “When you give a team like that a goal it just makes them more defensive, more resolute and it’s tough. We put ourselves in a tough position but got out of it.”
The thrilling comeback capped a dizzying week for Virginia. Consecutive losses to Davidson and No. 18 Syracuse dropped the Cavaliers 11 spots in the national rankings down to No. 13. Eight games into the season, legs have become weary on the weight of a demanding schedule. The Cavaliers played their fourth game in the past 10 days in the midst of the busiest portion of their schedule, and the fatigue showed at times.
“We’re tired,” Gelnovatch said of his team, which will now have three days off before playing in Pittsburgh. “We’re definitely tired.”
Many times during Tuesday’s game, fatigue manifested itself in frustration. The quiet atmosphere at Klöckner Stadium made players’ reactions fully audible as they repeatedly voiced their frustration to officials about inconsistent foul calls, screaming in disappointment when offensive chances went awry. Those cries and sighs became more frequent as the night grew later and colder, and James Madison gained confidence with every passing moment.
At times, the crowd went so quiet in apparent shock that the only audible sound was the ping of a baseball from the orange-blue exhibition game being played just yards away at Davenport Field. Still, with apprehension growing – not only about this game, but about a sliding season – Madison and company maintained faith the breakthrough was imminent.
“It was frustrating, but when we go down, that’s our attitude,” Madison said. “We never give up until the end.”
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