Winning the Portland Nike Invitational might not be most prestigious of trophies, but for the No. 15 Virginia men's soccer team, it actually meant quite a bit. After struggling through a trying preseason in which they were outscored 6-1 in three exhibitions, the Cavaliers responded with a pair of much-needed victories that has them sitting at 2-0 heading into Friday's ACC home opener against Duke.\nVirginia kicked off the Nike Invitational with a convincing 3-0 win against the tournament hosts, Portland. Sophomore midfielder and Hermann Trophy candidate Tony Tchani netted two goals in the first 15 minutes of play, and freshman forward Will Bates - who entered the game in the second half as a substitute - scored the first goal of his young career in the 48th minute. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Diego Restrepo made one save to preserve the shutout.\nSunday's match against Washington proved to be a tougher test. After trailing 1-0 at the half, the Cavaliers responded with a header goal in the 74th minute by sophomore defender Greg Monaco, who was assisted by senior midfielder Neil Barlow. It was Monaco's first career goal. After several tense minutes of play, the score remained knotted at one apiece at the end of regulation. Barlow drilled a shot from the right wing past Washington goalkeeper Rylan Hawkins and into the back of the net to break the tie in the 99th minute, sealing Virginia's first place finish in the round-robin tournament.\n"It's been a little over a year since I've scored a goal," Barlow said. "So it felt great. I'm glad I could pull it out for my team. We all worked really hard, and anybody on the team could have scored that goal, but luckily it fell to me."\nAfter a preseason filled with missed goal-scoring opportunities, Virginia's victory in Portland allowed Cavalier fans to let out a collective sigh of relief. Fans had questioned whether the Cavaliers could pull through with a win in spite of potential injuries, lineup issues and an apparent lack of goal-scoring ability. Virginia, however, left Portland with a sense of renewed confidence, knowing it is capable of finding the back of the net and meeting this year's high expectations.\n"I think a little of that was the formation change," redshirt sophomore midfielder Jimmy Simpson said. "Also, the hunger that we had to scorea, it hadn't shown in the preseason so I think we got out there and the competitive spirit came out in all of us. We knew we needed to win games and score goals."\nWith the team's challenging ACC schedule just around the corner, the pair of wins could help set the tone for the season.\n"When we went over there as a team we set our goal that we weren't gonna leave unless we were 2-0," Barlow said. "It just had to happen. So the whole game we were just working off that, just trying to get both those wins to start off the season really strong. Two wins away on the west coast is a big deal too, especially in terms of rankings."\nFriday's ACC opener against Duke promises to be a stiff challenge, especially because the No. 29 Blue Devils are riding the momentum of a 3-0 season record. They followed their Sept. 1 2-0 win against James Madison with a 2-1 win against Columbia and a 2-0 victory against Denver this past weekend in the Duke/Nike Classic. Junior midfielder Cole Grossman leads the team with three goals and two assists this season. After a 10-9-2 record last season, Duke was picked to finish seventh out of the nine ACC soccer teams this season.\n"I know that they're a very good team," Simpson said. "Every ACC match is very, very competitive. This week we're gonna do our best and prepare for it and hopefully get that win"
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