On a rainy Friday night at Klöckner Stadium, No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Wake Forest played a thrilling match that went right down to the last seconds of the game. However, in the end, the Cavaliers fell short in their last regular season match, falling to the Demon Deacons, 2-1.
The Cavaliers had ample opportunities to seize control of the game early, out-shooting the Demon Deacons 11-2 in the first 25 minutes. Yet Virginia was unable to capitalize on any of these chances, something that would prove costly as the game went on.
After a scoreless first half, the Cavaliers struck early in the second. In the 51st minute, freshman midfielder Jonathan Villanueva took a corner kick that Wake Forest goalkeeper Brian Edwards bobbled at the goal line. Junior midfielder Nico Colaluca was right there to finish the rebound, putting the Cavaliers on top, 1-0.
The Cavaliers' lead, however, would be short-lived. Just 49 seconds later, Wake Forest earned a free kick 25 yards from goal. The Demon Deacons fired a shot, and Burke made a diving save to his left. However, Burke was unable to hold on, and as the ball was deflected, Wake Forest defender Julian Valentin put away the rebound for the equalizer.
"That ball moved a little bit," Burke said. "I should have done better, but that's a part of sports."
Virginia's leading scorer, sophomore forward Yannick Reyering, was taken out in the 61st minute, and did not return until there were four minutes left in the game. During this time, Virginia had many opportunities that sailed just wide or deflected off of a Wake Forest player for a corner.
Reyering is "nursing a little bit of an injury," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "I didn't think he was moving as well as he's usually moving."
In the 77th minute, Wake Forest took the lead for good. Forward Cody Arnoux snuck a ball through the legs of Cavalier defender Bakke Soumare, and rifled a shot from 18 yards away past the outstretched hands of Burke for the game-winning goal.
"Certainly both goals, as with every goal, you can look back and see the mistake," Gelnovatch said. "I think it had something to do with the conditions and the ball squirting through [Soumare], on the second goal in particular. The first goal was just not a smart foul on our part, and they capitalized on our mistake."
In the 90th minute, the Cavaliers had one final chance to send the game to overtime. Junior midfielder Jeremy Barlow played a long ball across the penalty area that sailed over everyone. As the ball was crossing the end line, Colaluca headed the ball back across the six-yard box, and freshman midfielder Ross LaBauex put the ball in the back of the net with only 12 seconds remaining. However, the linesman called the ball out of bounds for a Wake Forest goal kick as time expired, taking away the Cavaliers' goal.
"I thought it was in, so I'm upset about it, because we did score off it," Colaluca said. "The referee didn't call it out until after it was in the back of the goal. But, that's just the call they made."
The call left the Cavaliers in shock as they left the field. However, the Cavaliers are confident as they head into the ACC tournament this week.
"I don't think there was anything where I'm walking away scratching my head, saying holy smokes what just happened out there," Gelnovatch said. "We played a good team and I thought we had the better of the game, but we lost in a couple of plays that made the difference."
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