Paced by pairs of goals from forwards Ryan Gibbs and Eric Solomon, the No. 2 Virginia men's soccer team routed UNC-Greensboro, 7-1, at Klockner Stadium last night. The win gave the Cavaliers their 13th straight victory, and their highest goal total and margin of victory this season.
Well-rested after a weekend off, Virginia (14-0-1) started the game by dominating the Spartans, which were playing their third ACC opponent in five days. The Cavaliers were in superb form as they ran out to a 3-0 halftime lead, and, despite a full round of substitutions in the second half, the team's play remained stellar the entire game.
"We definitely benefited from having some time off," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "I don't think that the [UNC-Greensboro] performance today was reflective of the caliber of that team. They are better than that. We're fortunate to play them after they played two ACC teams on the road."
Starting at full strength, the Cavaliers bounced two shots off the goal posts before breaking through in the 21st minute. Working his way through the defense, forward Alecko Eskandarian sent a short through ball into the box for Gibbs, who spun away from the defender on his hip to slide the ball past charging Spartans' goalkeeper Charlie DeMello.
The eventual game-winning goal came four minutes later, after another Gibbs pass into the box. This time the recipient was midfielder Steve Totten, who sent a short shot from the left side over DeMello's shoulder in the upper right corner of the net and gave Virginia all the support it would need.
The Cavaliers entered the dressing room at halftime up 3-0, courtesy of a 41st minute Eskandarian goal.
"It helps out our defense a lot when we are putting away our chances, instead of missing opportunities," Gibbs said. "As long as we're playing well and winning, though, it doesn't matter whether we score seven goals, or one or two."
Following a 57th minute goal by Gibbs, built on beautiful assists from Eskandarian and Solomon, the Spartans posted the only blemish of the Cavaliers' game. In the 73rd minute, forward Mike Dunaway gathered a loose ball in the Virginia box and slotted it past Cavalier goalkeeper David Comfort to bring the score to 4-1.
Forward Chris Megaloudis entered the scoresheet with an 87th minute goal, before Eric Solomon closed the scoring with goals in the 88th and 89th minutes. After converting a penalty kick, Solomon headed home a cross from Megaloudis.
"The way that we played tonight was pretty complete," Gelnovatch said. "Our passing and pressure was some of the best it has been. The whole thing was there. All the parts of the game that we talk about as the signature of our team were there tonight"
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