Faced with another mid-week contest against a visiting non-conference opponent, members of the Virginia men's soccer team decided to make things easy on themselves last night. Pressuring East Carolina from the kickoff, the No. 2 Cavaliers went ahead on an 11th minute goal by sophomore forward Alecko Eskandarian before slipping into cruise control to defeat the outclassed Pirates, 2-0.
Unlike Virginia's game against Mercer, on Oct. 17, in which Virginia was forced to come from behind against a stacked Mercer defense, the early lead against East Carolina allowed the Cavaliers to dictate the style and tempo of the entire game. While not the team's most appealing demonstration of the season, Virginia nonetheless recorded its ninth shutout of the year and improved its record to 13-0-1 with its 12th consecutive victory.
"We wanted to get the first goal, it's very important," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "It's not easy to always be the team to break down six guys across the back. When you can get that early goal, you're doing yourself a favor."
Virginia's speedy duo of midfielder Kirk Dinnal and forward Ryan Gibbs created chances throughout the first half. In the 11th minute, Dinnal received the ball and drove into the penalty area before laying the ball back across to an onrushing Eskandarian. His left-footed one-timer from 15 yards out screamed into the back of Pirate goalkeeper R.J. Marvinney's net and gave the Cavaliers all the support they would need.
"It's always good to get an early goal," Eskandarian said. "I have total confidence in Kirk. He made a great run. He just picked me out and I hit it. That's bread and butter for me, I practice it all the time."
Using their superior speed on defense to pressure any budding Pirate attacks, the Cavaliers maintained possession largely in East Carolina's territory. Despite out-shooting the Pirates, 11-2, in the first half, Virginia was unable to add to its lead before halftime.
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After the break, Gibbs came out and created a number of excellent chances, including setting up a shot from Jacob LeBlanc that crashed just high over the net in the second minute. Further shots from Eskandarian and a pair of breakaways by Gibbs were shut down by the Pirate defense, but the Cavaliers finally put away the game in the 65th minute. A group of players, including Eskandarian and midfielder Kenny Arena, rose to meet a corner kick from LeBlanc. The ball was nodded toward the Pirate goal, where it was headed into the roof of the goal by a sliding East Carolina defender. Arena received credit for the goal, with the assist going to LeBlanc.
Following the insurance goal, Gelnovatch began substituting heavily and used eight players off the bench. Gelnovatch said getting everybody on the team playing time was an integral part of the Cavaliers' plan for success.
"Part of winning championships is keeping your whole unit together, not just your starting unit," he said. "I'm really happy that we were able to get basically everybody in there. I think it means a lot to everybody, it keeps you together as a unit and keeps everybody mentally fresh"
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