It took the Virginia men’s soccer team 74 minutes to score the game’s only goal Friday against Virginia Tech. Against Virginia Commonwealth Monday night, it took 76.
The Cavaliers traded blows with a feisty and athletic VCU squad all game. But thanks to a beautiful cross by junior midfielder Scott Thomsen, a perfect directional header by junior forward Darius Madison and a finishing touch by sophomore forward Sam Hayward, No. 15 Virginia (4-1-0, 1-0-0 ACC) was able to hold off the Rams (3-3-0, 0-0-0 A-10) for the 1-0 victory.
Virginia dominated the first half of play, but after only three days of rest since the 1-0 victory against Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers nearly fell behind on multiple occasions. Hayward’s goal, though, gave Virginia the jolt of energy it needed to earn its third shutout of the season.
“We had a pretty tough, emotional game Friday night, and in the second half we ran out of gas a little bit,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “But I think after the first 20 minutes of the second half, we regained our composure, especially right when we scored the goal.”
Virginia’s first near-goal was the result of a fortuitous deflection off senior midfielder Eric Bird. As the Rams attempted to clear the ball from their own end, Bird stepped in front of the pass and got a piece of the ball, sending it back to VCU’s goal and forcing redshirt junior goalkeeper Garrett Cyprus to tip it over and behind the crossbar.
A foul in the 16th minute gave the Cavaliers a free kick 10 yards outside the Ram box, but Friday’s hero — Thomsen — sent his shot high and wide left. Neither freshman midfielder Jake Rozhansky, junior midfielder Todd Wharton nor Thomsen could connect on their shots in the next 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, VCU’s athletic forwards challenged the three-man Virginia back line, sending several passes back to senior goalkeeper Calle Brown to clear. Still, even when Virginia’s defense showed signs of bending, it was far from breaking, as the Rams finished the first half without a shot.
The Cavaliers nearly took the lead in the 36th minute when a VCU defender slid to break up a pass to Virginia senior forward Kyle McCord. The ball snuck past the defender, giving McCord an open look at the net, but a leaping save by Cyprus deflected the shot wide, keeping the game scoreless.
Virginia made a strong push to end the half, as redshirt freshman midfielder Pablo Aguilar’s strike from the top of the box in the 44th minute was deflected, resulting in a corner. Bird’s shot — Virginia’s ninth of the half — sailed high as the clock expired.
“We had a great first half — they didn’t get a shot off,” Gelnovatch said. “We literally had them locked in their half and I didn’t feel threatened.”
After being held without a shot for more than 45 minutes, the Ram offense came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, clearly taking control away from Virginia. The Rams fired off five shots between the 49th and 50th minute, three of which came in a matter of seconds.
With 41 minutes remaining in the half, Brown raced out of the goal to stop a cross, but the ball slipped through his hands. Senior defender Kyler Sullivan slid in to block the shot, but the ball rebounded back to VCU. The Rams took two more shots — each deflected by a Cavalier other than Brown — before Virginia could clear the ball.
Two minutes later, after VCU corner, Brown again left the goal only to mishandle and drop the ball. But just as before, a Virginia defender stepped in front of the open net to block the shot. Through the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Rams had evened the shot count at 10 apiece.
“They came shot out of a cannon and we weathered the storm,” Gelnovatch said.
But Virginia’s defensive stand turned the momentum in the Cavaliers’ favor. Although they were not connecting, the chances were beginning to open up for Virginia’s offense.
A cross by Madison managed to slither through the VCU box, but no Cavalier was able to make contact. With 17 minutes to play, a cross from Thomsen went through the hands of Cyprus, giving Virginia senior forward Ryan Zinkhan a chance at the net, but his touch was deflected toward the sideline.
Then just three minutes later, Hayward and the Cavaliers finally finished, extending Virginia’s win streak to three games.
“I think like two minutes before, Scott had put in a great ball to me and I barely missed it,” Hayward said. “He told me, ‘Keep making that run. I’m going to putting that ball in.’ He put it in to Darius, and he did a great job keeping it in play, and I was just there for cleanup.”
Virginia will next face No. 4 Notre Dame this Sunday at Klöckner Stadium. The game is scheduled for noon.
Read More
Connor Shellenberger and Cole Kastner selected in the PLL Draft
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayConnor Shellenberger and Cole Kastner will proudly represent the Cavaliers through continued excellence in the PLL.
No. 6 women’s tennis breezes through first two rounds of NCAA Tournament
By Grace Gould | YesterdayNo. 6 Virginia women’s tennis hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament over the weekend, competing against Long Island University and No. 41 Princeton.
ACC Championship preview — Virginia softball earns No. 4 seed
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayThe Cavaliers could cap off a successful regular season with a postseason run, starting with a matchup against the Tigers.
