If there were any questions remaining about the talent of the Cavaliers’ attack, Tuesday night’s offensive outburst put those to rest.
Behind goals from junior midfielders Riggs Lennon and Nicko Corriveau, Virginia (2-0-1) led throughout, defeating the George Mason Patriots (1-3-0) 2-1. The win — coming just four days after Friday’s 1-1 tie against Tulsa — means the fifth-ranked Cavaliers enter ACC play unbeaten.
“These games are good, they’re good competition,” Corriveau said, “but we really want to play ACC games and win the ACC. We definitely can play better, but overall I think it was a great team performance.”
The Cavaliers survived a serious scare before they got on the board, however. After an eighth-minute foul on a tackle by Lennon in the box, sophomore goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell miraculously saved the penalty kick, keeping Virginia’s clean sheet intact.
“It was a tough spot early,” Caldwell said. “You never really want to give up a chance like that early, especially against a team like that.”
In what could be called a trap game — buttressed by tough matchups with Tulsa and Duke — the Cavaliers needed to come out firing, and they did just that.
“[It’s] extremely important [to start strong],” Lennon said. “We wanted to come out flying and pressure them early to see what they had coming forward.”
Their pursuits paid off when, in the 37th minute, Lennon took control of the ball just inside George Mason’s half. After swift dribbling and a sneaky move to split two defenders, the 2014 College Cup hero finessed a left-footed shot into the side netting for his second goal of the season, putting the Cavaliers ahead 1-0.
“[Senior midfielder] Todd [Wharton] waited for the right moment to pick me out, and once I got the ball and looked up I had time to run at them,” Lennon said. “Once the guy missed me I just faked out the keeper and placed it far netting.”
Just seven minutes later, following a beautiful long ball from redshirt freshman defender Juilan Cummings, Corriveau — who grew up just minutes from George Mason — took it down off his chest, settled and fired a curling right-footed strike past the Patriots goalkeeper to double the Virginia lead going into half.
“It was a great ball by Julian,” Corriveau said. “I made a run and was able to get in front of the guy. I took a touch and then I found myself on goal and just shot it.”
With fewer than 30 seconds before half, the Patriots got another crowd-silencing chance. They got two shots on Caldwell from within six yards, but were not able to convert.
“They got a ball in the channel, got it through on a cross,” Caldwell said. “I saw it kind of late on the first one, and then on the rebound I just tried to make myself big. You try to make your own luck, but you take it when you can get it.”
Coming out of the break, the Cavaliers looked fresher than ever. Pressuring the George Mason back line and looking to exploit any opportunity, Virginia tallied seven shots over the second 45 minutes against a lethargic Patriots team.
“The double save Caldwell made gave them a boost,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “We got reorganized and reenergized. He’s been playing really well, and I think going into conference play he’ll be really confident.”
In the 65th minute, in just his third game for Virginia, sophomore defender Manny Scere headed towards his own goal too softly, allowing Patriots sophomore forward Henning Dirks to intercept the ball and slot it past Caldwell for his first goal of the season.
“Just a little miscommunication,” Caldwell said. “It’s no one person’s fault, but you learn from that and move forward. If I’m higher off my line or he heads it harder back maybe we’re not talking about this.”
Once again, the Cavaliers will have just three days off before traveling to Durham, North Carolina for their first road and conference game of the season. They will take on Duke, a dynamic team that just narrowly fell outside of this week’s NSCAA Coaches’ Poll. The game will be televised on ESPN3.
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