When James Madison arrived in Charlottesville Tuesday, the frustration over last season’s nail-biting 2-1 defeat was palpable. With an upset on their minds, the Dukes (0-4-1, 0-0-0 CAA) came out firing, but their efforts were stymied by the resilient Cavaliers (3-0-2, 0-0-1 ACC) defense.
Virginia beat back an aggressive James Madison team throughout, and broke through for two goals of their own, shutting out their in-state foe 2-0.
“What happens is, and this is just human nature, that generally, it means more to the other team than it does to us because we are the target,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “We play George Mason, JMU and VCU and it has that component to it and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
With just a short respite following their ACC opener against Duke, Virginia looked noticeably flat in the opening minutes.
“Yes, we could have been a little less flat [and] a little more sharp.” Gelnovatch said. “But in the end, it’s a win and a shutout .... We turn the page.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell — whose play has anchored the defense — was impressive from the opening kick, denying redshirt sophomore Toby Appleton’s strike just four minutes into play.
“He’s done great,” Gelnovatch said. “He’s rock steady for us the one or two times that he’s called on in a game and the rest of the time he’s really solid. Been very happy with Jeff.”
After a Dukes corner and a yellow card on freshman defender Malcolm Dixon — his third of the season — the Cavaliers settled into their dynamic counter attack, playing through senior midfielder Todd Wharton and redshirt sophomore midfielder Pablo Aguilar to generate eight first-half shots and four corner kicks, their highest total this season.
“We take pretty detailed statistics, and he’s always the best guy on the field with passing and interceptions,” Gelnovatch said. “And all the little things that he does and the leadership of course.”
With James Madison freshman goalkeeper Vinnie Durand sidelined with an illness and redshirt junior Kyle Morton suspended due to a red card, senior Andres Neira was called up last week from the school’s club team and played in his first career game just four days before Tuesday night’s clash with the fifth-ranked Cavaliers.
“We knew that he was not their starting goalkeeper,” Gelnovatch said, “but did we get as much pressure on him as I wanted to? Probably not.”
Though the Cavaliers and Dukes traded scoring opportunities in the early stages, neither team could break through until the 38th minute, when Virginia drew a corner kick from the right side.
After a vicious ball in from junior defender Patty Foss, freshman forward Edward Opoku directed a header at goal and watched — along with the 1,245 fans in attendance—as sophomore midfielder Jake Rozhansky tapped it by Neira for his second goal of the year to put Virginia ahead 1-0.
“I actually stood on the keeper,” Rozhansky said, “so just in case the ball comes to him I’m bothering him a little bit. The ball came across to Edward, he headed it down and I just redirected it.”
To open the second half Virginia utilized its youth, starting four first years in an effort to jumpstart the offense that, although ahead, looked sluggish at times.
“One of our mottos is to start fast,” Rozhansky said, “and we were a bit sluggish, but we picked it up as the game went on and in the end we got the result and that’s the most important thing.”
In the 82nd minute, the youth movement paid dividends. After an excellent long ball from junior midfielder Riggs Lennon, freshman midfielder Jean-Christophe Koffi corralled the ball at the top of the box, calmly beat the charging Neira, and slotted it into the back of the net for his first career Virginia goal.
“It was a wonderful feeling to score my first goal in my college career,” Koffi said. “That was a great ball from Lennon. You always try to find your forwards when you play with them, you try to get feeds to them, [and when you do] it’s really great.”
The goal — which doubled the Cavaliers lead — secured a valuable midweek win in what many feared would be a trap game, facing an in-state rival following a double-OT tie against Duke and before another ACC matchup, against NC State, Friday.
“I don’t even have words to describe it,” Koffi said. “I thank my teammates for the encouragement to keep working hard to get that goal.”
The Cavaliers’ next game — their ACC home opener — is Friday night, under the lights at Klöckner stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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