With a three-game win streak and a high national ranking, the No. 11 Virginia men's soccer team should have entered Saturday night's match confident in its ability to dispatch a winless Clemson squad. But with players tussling on the muddy turf and fans huddled under umbrellas beneath the pelting rain, the gritty contest proved to be anybody's game. In the end, it was Clemson's night to shine, as the Tigers emerged with a 1-0 upset victory to hand the Cavaliers their second conference loss of the season.
"Anytime you lose, it's disappointing as hell," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "That's all you can say about it. The conditions made it really tough for us, [but] I mean obviously they had to deal with those conditions, too."
The weather had Gelnovatch thinking that a restart was inevitable, as he noted that Clemson (1-5-1, 1-2 ACC) only had one realistic opportunity to score.
That opportunity came in the 41st minute, when Virginia (5-2, 1-2 ACC) was whistled for a foul about 15 yards outside its penalty box. Clemson sophomore midfielder Connor Barbaree lofted the ensuing free kick into the box, where senior forward Mike Mattson knocked a header into the low left corner of the goal to give Clemson a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Cavaliers came out visibly more aggressive in the second half, playing harder as time wore on and a sense of desperation mounted. Despite dominating ball control in the waning minutes, however, Virginia managed to create only a few legitimate scoring chances.
One finally presented itself in the 60th minute, when a scramble in front of the Clemson goal found sophomore midfielder Tony Tchani with the ball at his feet. Virginia fans held their breath in anticipation, but their hopes were dashed when a Clemson defender positioned himself in front of Tchani just in time to prevent a shot on goal.
With five minutes remaining in the match, Tchani got a chance at redemption when a Clemson foul led to a free kick from about 15 yards outside the box. Tchani's low, hard blast bore past a cluster of defenders but one-hopped into the arms of diving Clemson senior goalkeeper Joseph Bendik. Bendik then saved a shot by sophomore midfielder Jimmy Simpson a couple minutes later to tally his third save of the game and preserve the shutout.
"We just didn't get the ball in the net," senior midfielder Ross LaBauex said. "It's a game of how many goals do you score, and today we just couldn't put the ball in the net, so we need to work on that."
Perhaps Virginia's best scoring chance of the game came in the first half, when sophomore forward Chris Agorsor raced past the Tigers' backline for a breakaway down the right side of the field. One-on-one with the goalie but with a poor angle on the goal, Agorsor booted a shot just wide of the near post.
The Cavaliers took 16 shots to only seven by the Tigers and held a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks. Ultimately, though, success comes down to goals, not shots. Virginia, which has scored only nine goals through seven games, understands that it needs to improve in that area if the team wishes to see further success in ACC play.
"Every game in the ACC is going to be a tough one," LaBauex said. "Their record definitely didn't reflect their team. Today, it just didn't go our way. We just have to get back to practice and work on things in front of the goal."
The Cavaliers will look to rebound Tuesday night, when they return to Kl
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