CARY, N.C. -- The Cavaliers defended their ACC Championship title and avenged a regular-season loss to rival Maryland yesterday in the finals of the conference tournament.
After a scoreless and extremely even first half, Virginia got on the board less than three minutes after the break. A corner kick by freshman midfielder Nico Colaluca deflected off of a Maryland player and found the powerful foot of sophomore forward and Virginia leading scorer, Adam Cristman.
While the Cavaliers' never lost the lead, the eventual game-winning tally came 10 minutes later when freshman midfielder Jeremy Barlow won a one-on-one with the Terrapin goalkeeper Noah Palmer. Barlow was set up by a through ball from sophomore Will Hall.
Barlow was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring two goals and getting one assist in the Cavaliers' three contests.
"It's a tribute to the entire team," Barlow said of his MVP award. "Today's goal, Will Hall played me a great ball and I was fortunate to be there but it's really a tribute to the team."
Along with Barlow, junior midfielder Mike Littlefield, Cristman, sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Burke and freshman midfielder Nico Colaluca were all named to the ACC All-Tournament Team. This is the second time Burke has received the honor.
The Cavaliers' comfortable two-goal margin in the second half did not last long. Terrapin Chris Lancos, who tied the record for most assists in a single tournament with four, crossed a ball to forward Jason Garey, who headed it past Virginia's Burke.
Up by only one, the memory of last year's grueling double-overtime, penalty kick match was fresh in the minds of the Cavalier defense, but coach George Gelnovatch had prepared the team for the situation.
"Over the last two or three weeks we would go up to Klöckner for 10 minutes and go numbers up against us," senior defender Matt Oliver said. "We'd do whatever it takes not to get scored on. It paid off; everybody buckled down and we pulled through."
The matchup, while intense and emotionally charged, was relatively clean. Fourteen fouls were called against Maryland and 10 were called against Virginia. The Terps earned the game's only yellow card.
This year's final marked the third consecutive year the Terrapins and the Cavaliers had battled for the conference championship. All three years the regular-season winner became the tournament loser. The similarities between the two teams are striking -- making defeat even harder to take for the Terrapins.
"We're very disappointed," Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said. "There's not a lot that separates these two teams, we just came up one play short. We'll be heard of later this season."
The Cavaliers and Gelnovatch credited the closeness of the team with the victory.
"It's a team and that's been my thing all along," Gelnovatch said. "To see this core group of guys come from where they were last year to where they are now and having won two ACC Championships is very rewarding."
Now having qualified for the NCAA tournament through their regular season record and their ACC title, the Cavaliers await bracket announcements, which will be made at 4:30 p.m. Monday on ESPNews.
Read More
Late hitting and pitching dominance lead Virginia to 12-2 Commonwealth Clash victory
By Ryan Weiner | 51 minutes agoVirginia takes the first game of its final regular season series.
In second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, Virginia slated for Columbia Regional
By Ben McNiff | 2 hours agoVirginia begins Regional play Friday at 3 p.m. versus North Florida, with coverage available on ESPN+.
Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason
By Michael Liebermann , Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | 3 hours agoA frenetic offseason likely awaits.
