Chapel Hill, N.C. -- The Virginia men's soccer team can't seem to get a break. Saturday night they extended their atypical losing streak to three games, a position they haven't been in for over 20 years.
Three weeks ago, as the Cavaliers prepared for five straight games on the road, they knew they had their work cut out for them, but there was no indication just how difficult those weeks would be. After falling to Penn State and Wake Forest (now ranked at No. 10 in Division I), Virginia looked to cut its losses and rediscover its winning ways.
Although the Cavaliers scored early Saturday night, the Tar Heels answered just as quickly and with double the force, gaining a 2-1 lead and never looking back.
The Cavaliers, who seemed so adept at coming from behind early in the season, could not seem to refine their game and settle their touches soon enough to come back Saturday.
"We seem to be off during the first half of most games," freshman defender Hunter Freeman said. "We just aren't on the same page, and it shows."
As the sun went down, the action at North Carolina's Fetzer Field heated up. Virginia's junior forward Alecko Eskandarian wasted no time, scoring the first goal of the contest at 16:40. The goal, his eighth of the season, came when Eskandarian shook the ball loose and got a shot off from what seemed an impossible angle.
The early goal looked like exactly what the Cavaliers needed. Their previous two losses came when Virginia was sluggish at the start, failing to gain any early momentum.
For a moment, it appeared as though the Cavaliers had gotten out of that rut and were on their way.
Yet the Tar Heels took every opportunity in an effort to steal Virginia's momentum -- within 58 seconds, Carolina senior forward Ryan Kneipper halted the Cavaliers lead. Kneipper stripped the Virginia defense of the ball 15 yards out and placing it in the right corner.
The Tar Heels also were thankful for the return of David Testo, who was just returning from a team suspension.
Less than three minutes after Kneipper tied things up, Testo headed a Tar Heel corner toward the goal. The ball skimmed the heads of several Cavaliers, but there was no stopping the goal or the institution of a Tar Heel lead.
"It really felt like we were doing everything that we needed to be doing there," freshman midfielder Phillip Long said. "We just had a lapse for the span of about 10 minutes and they really capitalized on it."
Although Virginia made several valiant comeback attempts, they also fluctuated between the driven, focused style of play with which they're normally associated, and the uncertain touches that have plagued them for the past two weeks.
The Cavaliers came into the second half with a renewed vitality, out-shooting Carolina 6-1.
"We really played well in the second half," Freeman said. "I think that if we could play every first half like we play every second half, we would be in a much better position."
In the final minutes of the game, seniors Ryan Gibbs and Jonathon Cole both took shots that elicited gasps from the crowd, but neither helped the Cavaliers on the board.
This loss leaves the Cavaliers 3-3 for the season and 0-2 in ACC play. They will wind down their road stint when they face William & Mary at Christopher Newport Wednesday, and look forward to returning to Kl
ckner Stadium.
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