The No. 21 Virginia men’s soccer team knew that they were heading into a battle Friday night, as No. 2 Notre Dame was coming to town for a pivotal mid-season conference matchup. The Cavaliers (7-2-4, 2-2-2 ACC) were a week removed from their first conference win of the season, and were looking to keep their momentum going against a Fighting Irish (10-2-1, 3-2-1 ACC) squad that had only lost once this season.
The matchup met all expectations, with Virginia squeezing out a 1-0 victory in a tough, closely fought match.
The Cavaliers were able to score quickly in the first half thanks to sophomore forward Edward Opoku, who continued his sensational season. Opoku now has a team-leading five goals in the season.
Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch talked about how Virginia’s defense and game plan played a pivotal role in Friday night’s match.
“I think the first half is very good — we kind of starved them of the ball, we made it tough for them,” Gelnovatch said. “We knew in the second half they were going to come and press, press, press and we, especially, in the first 20 minutes, kind of absorbed that pressure and defended and held the ball when we could. Had one good chance down here with Eddy to make it two, and then we closed the game out and did a great job against a very good team.”
Virginia’s junior goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell put forth an excellent performance, notching seven saves en route to helping the Cavaliers shut down the Fighting Irish.
It was a big win for Virginia, who took down a top-five team for the second consecutive week.
“This, like it means a lot to us,” Opoku said. “I mean the whole week we prepared for this, we were like, you know we already played them last year two times over there and they beat us both and we just said to ourselves in the locker room we just can’t lose to them in here … It was a great team effort.”
Gelnovatch talked about how after some of the things the team has gone through this season, with missed opportunities, tough losses and ties. He sensed the Cavaliers were turning a corner.
“I mean it means a lot,” Gelnovatch said. “I mean we’ve been, in a lot of ways, unlucky, you know the Clemson game I thought we should have won, the Virginia Tech game we should have won, so, you know, I felt like our time was coming.”
The match against Notre Dame gave Virginia a perfect opportunity to measure themselves against one of the top teams in the country, especially as they have struggled to prove their mettle thus far.
“I feel like we’re one of the best teams in the ACC and it just — points wise — hasn’t showed, but I think we are, and today and last weekend against Carolina it shows,” Gelnovatch said.
It was a packed crowd at Klöckner Stadium, as Virginia fans took advantage of the nice weather to come out and support the Cavaliers, and their presence did not go unnoticed.
“It was great, I mean always like we know, we need the fans,” Opoku said. “Cavalier fans are the best and they always drive us to play so well and whenever they are here, like we want to play for them, we want to win for them, and want to win for the school, so that’s what we did and it was a great win.”
Virginia will now look to continue their momentum and extend their unbeaten streak to seven games, as they get ready for another midweek matchup at home. The Cavaliers will take on in-state rival William & Mary Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville.
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