It was the tale of two halves for the Virginia men's soccer team Saturday night at Klöckner Stadium. For the first 45 minutes, the Cavaliers seemed lethargic and out of sync as they let a middling UNC-Charlotte squad gain confidence and stay in the game. With the score 0-0 at halftime, Virginia coach George Gelnovatch had a few choice words for his uninspired squad.
"Nothing printable," Gelnovatch said chuckling when asked about his halftime speech. "You'd have to hit the pound sign and those types of keys quite a few times."
Gelnovatch was able to be humorous following the game because whatever he said at halftime worked. Virginia came out and took control of the game, cruising to a 2-0 victory over the 49ers.
"We stepped up our pressure and our defense in the second half," junior forward Adam Cristman said. "In the first-half, our timing was off and we weren't really connecting well from the midfield to Yannick [Reyering]. We were a little sleepy and not playing with as much heart as we should have."
Another reason for Virginia's slow start may have been the opponent. After the hostile atmosphere and physical team the Cavaliers faced in their previous match-up against Santa Barbara, Charlotte may have like a cake walk to Virginia players.
"We came out and knew that they weren't as physical as Santa Barbara, which made us kind of lackadaisical," junior defensive center-back Lee Sandwina said.
Virginia also made several tactical adjustments at halftime that played an important role in the victory. In the first half, Virginia utilized one high forward -- Reyering -- and two wide forwards. For the second half, the Cavaliers ran a system with two high forwards -- Reyering and Cristman -- and a traditional four-man midfield alignment. Senior Joe Vide was playing at the top of the midfield diamond for Virginia with junior Dane Murphy behind him. Sophomore Jeremy Barlow and junior Ian Holder were playing out wide.
"I think having two forwards, playing with Joe Vide, who is a little more of a playmaker, made a big difference," Gelnovatch said.
Virginia scored its first goal five minutes into the second half. A Charlotte player deflected a Chris Tierney corner kick away from the goal. Tierney, a sophomore defender, gained control of the ball and sent a pass in to Cristman, who headed the ball into the right side of the net for his second goal of the season.
"They [the Charlotte defense] were pretty unorganized, so I was able to step up and stay on sides to put myself in a good position," Cristman said. "Tierney played a great ball, and I was able to have a free header."
In the 71st minute of play, Holder sent a through ball to Reyering on a breakaway. Reyering's first shot was saved by Charlotte goalkeeper Josh Beachem, but Reyering followed his shot and sent the rebound from Beachem's save into the net for his first goal of the regular season. Reyering celebrated with a helicopter arm motion and was swarmed by his teammates.
"They do it differently in Germany I guess," Cristman said of Reyering's celebration. "But just wait until you see an Ian Holder celebration."
Reyering, who was ineligible to play in the California tournament because one of his German youth teams played against a professional squad, was ecstatic that he was able to contribute to Virginia's victory.
"I'm happy that I scored, but it is most important that we won our first home game," Reyering said.
Virginia's defense maintained its stellar level of play. The Cavaliers' back line has yet to yield a goal in the regular season. Sandwina made a nice diving play in the first half to block a Charlotte shot and Ryan "Stonewall" Burke made two saves in recording his third consecutive shutout.
Gelnovatch is particularly pleased with the play of his center-backs.
"The outside backs have been great too, but Lee Sandwina and Matt Poole together have led that group and done a great job," he said.
Virginia's next game will be against Longwood University on Wednesday night at Klöckner Stadium.
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