With 20 minutes left on the clock, Milwaukee seemed content to grind out a draw. Virginia was not.
Coming off a string of recent draws, the Cavaliers (6-1-2, 2-0-2 ACC) needed a breakthrough. In the 73rd minute, freshman forward Sami Oulouheu provided it, bringing home his first collegiate goal to hoist No. 16 Virginia to a 3-2 victory in its first-ever matchup against the Panthers (2-4-5, 1-0-2 Horizon League) at Klöckner Stadium.
With the win, Virginia extended its unbeaten streak to seven matches. Milwaukee made things difficult, though, as senior goalkeeper Nic Diana tallied seven saves.
It was a clear and crisp night at Klöckner — a stark contrast to Friday’s rain-soaked 0–0 draw against North Carolina. But before many of the 780 fans had settled into their seats, the Cavaliers already found themselves trailing. Just three minutes in, Milwaukee junior midfielder Angel Gongora buried a penalty in the net, giving the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
“Giving up a penalty in the first three minutes of a game like this put wind in [Milwaukee’s] sails,” Coach George Gelnovatch said. “And that made it harder on ourselves.”
With both No. 1 and No. 2 goalkeepers — senior Casper Mols and sophomore Spencer Sanderson — sidelined by injury, junior Caleb Tunks earned his second career start after debuting against North Carolina last week. Gelnovatch said the junior has been steady since stepping up.
“[Caleb] didn’t have a ton to do against [the Tar Heels] but was nice and steady,” Gelnovatch said. “I thought he came close to saving the penalty [tonight], and he’d probably tell you himself he should have saved it.”
Virginia made up for the early penalty through what is becoming Gelnovatch’s trademark early substitution window. At the 24th minute, he replaced four attackers, and the effect was instantaneous. The fresh legs finally found the space sophomore midfielder Umberto Pelà had been carving out — and minutes later, he was rewarded.
Two of these off the bench, sophomore midfielder Luke Burns and junior forward AJ Smith combined with Pelà for the first-half equalizer. Not even five minutes later, Smith finished a cutback from sophomore defender Alex Pârvu and senior midfielder Albin Gashi to put the Cavaliers ahead 2-1.
Pelà credited this instant effect to Virginia’s depth.
“AJ and Luke [are] fantastic players,” Pelà said. “It showed today … and it shows [the team’s] talent when guys can come on and have an impact [straight away].”
Despite a strong offensive showing from the Cavaliers, the Panthers clawed their way back into the match almost immediately in the second period. Virginia senior defender Nick Dang’s misplayed back pass was intercepted by Milwaukee junior midfielder Daiki Kumakawa, who raced forward and curled in a spectacular shot.
“I swear to you, if you took that shot 100 times, I'm not sure it would go in [like it did],” Gelnovatch said. “It was caused by a very uncharacteristic pass from a very good player, but it was an incredible goal.”
From that point on, Milwaukee’s Kumakawa kept pressing the Cavalier defense, repeatedly driving straight into the box and unsettling Virginia for much of the half.
That necessary breakdown came when senior forward Reese Miller slipped a pass to Pelà, who found Oulouheu in stride within a minute of coming on in place of Beauvois. The freshman forward took the first touch and slid the ball under Diana for his first collegiate goal — the winner in a 3-2 game.
Oulouheu celebrated accordingly, springing into a double handspring and two backflips. The celebration received roars and clangs from Klöckner’s metal bleachers, a release for a fanbase that had watched Virginia struggle to score all month.
It was a cathartic moment for the Cavaliers, who had been shut out in four of their first eight matches. Pelà admitted the goals were overdue — by the final whistle, Virginia had out-shot Milwaukee by a ratio of more than three shots to one.
“Regardless of the opponent, we want to be on the front foot, get lots of shots off,” Pelà said. “Today showed we can do that. We probably should have scored more, but a win is a win.”
Gelnovatch reflected on the bigger picture for the No. 16 team in the country, already looking ahead to the Sunday evening matchup at NC State.
“We have seven games left, we’re in the second half of the season, and we just played three ACC games in a row,” Gelnovatch said. “We have one of the biggest games coming up ... at No. 2 NC State. [Tonight] I give ourselves a lot of credit for taking the lead, and then I give ourselves a ton of credit for winning the game. Turn the page and get ready for NC State.”
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