You want drama? Why not ask the newly crowned 2003 ACC tournament champions, the Virginia men's soccer team, to tell you about their weekend.
For the past five days, the Cavaliers have been battling against the rest of the ACC in Cary, N.C. and fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Cavaliers are now 9-9-2 and have earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
After advancing past the sixth-seeded Clemson Tigers last Wednesday, Virginia faced the task of knocking off Wake Forest, a feat they accomplished earlier this season at Klöckner stadium, in order to return to the tournament finals for the second straight year.
The Cavaliers came up big against the second-seeded Demon Deacons, winning 1-0 on a goal Wake scored on themselves.
"When we play Wake Forest, there seems to be an incident, I don't know what to say," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "We're very fortunate [for the own goal] -- that's the first two shutouts we've had in a row all year. It's a positive thing."
Just minutes into the match, Virginia gained the lead off that lone goal, and managed to hold on, sending Wake Forest out of the ACC tournament.
"One of our players put a through ball in and it was a miscommunication between their goalie and their defender," junior midfielder Kirk Dinnall said. "The defender just tapped it in, the goal keeper went wrong-footed and just put it in the net."
Prior to yesterday's match, Virginia had not scored a single goal in the tournament, yet had advanced into the championship game against Maryland in a pairing that echoed the 2002 final match.
Gelnovatch and his squad were preparing for Maryland as soon as the semifinal match had ended.
"Maryland is a very good team and we have a hard task ahead of us," Gelnovatch said after the Firday win over Wake Forest. "If we're play with the same heart and spirit we've had in the last two games, we'll be fine."
The Terrapins took down the Cavaliers 1-0 in College Park Oct. 31, but this time there was a championship on the line and no home field advantage.
The first half of yesterday's game was again a back-and-forth battle with both sides getting good chances on offense but failing to convert. The game remained scoreless at the half.
The second 45 started differently. Just two minutes in, a hand ball in Virginia's 18 yard box by sophomore Will Hall gave Maryland a penalty kick, which they capitalized on with a strong shot to the left side of the goal by A.J. Herrera.
The wind had been knocked out of the Cavaliers' sails, but not permanently. In the 60th minute, Virginia's John Hartman tied the game on a volley from the top of the 18, catching Maryland's keeper Noah Palmer off guard. Hartman's volley found its way through a box crowded with players and into the back of the net, giving Virginia new energy and a tied game.
Things continued to slip for the Terrapins when Kenny Bertz received his second yellow card of the game, earning him a red card, and Maryland was forced to finish the game down one man.
It was a major turning point in the game.
Ninety minutes came to end the match went to overtime. The Terrapins had not played a single overtime game this season, while Virginia was 0-2-1 in overtime games on the year.
Virginia's Burke was once again a key part of the Cavaliers' roster. A free kick from nearly 45 yards out and a missed clear by a Virginia defender landed the ball on the foot of Maryland's Abe Thompson, who one-timed a shot on goal. Burke dove, punching the ball to the side and keeping Virginia's championship hopes alive.
After another 20 minutes of scoreless soccer, the championship went to penalty kicks. Both the Cavaliers and the Terps went 3 for 5 in the first round of penalty kicks and made their first three shots in sudden death penalty kicks.
Virginia made their ninth shot, once again putting pressure on Maryland to keep up or be knocked out.
Burke's performance on that final goal sealed him the title of Tournament MVP.
"I looked over at coach and he was waiving his right hand, telling me to go right," Burke said. "I thought that since I had been wrong the last four times in row, I might as well go to my right."
It was a good decision. As Maryland's Scott Buete ran up to kick the ninth penalty shot, Burke began his dive to the right corner and reached the ball before it crossed the line, sealing the ACC tournament title for Virginia.
"He's largely responsible for this ACC championship," Gelnovatch said.
Burke and the Cavaliers will now await their fate in the NCAA tournament with the selection of brackets to be announced today.
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