Virginia Coach George Gelnovatch came into Friday’s matchup with Virginia Tech looking to claim his 400th win as the head coach of the Virginia men’s soccer team.
He will have to keep looking.
The Cavaliers (4-5-1, 2-2 ACC) fought hard, but fell to the Hokies (6-3-1, 3-1-1 ACC) after going down 2-0 in the first half. Despite a strong final 20 minutes, highlighted by a penalty kick goal from fourth-year midfielder Marco Dos Santos, the Cavaliers were unable to earn an equalizer.
The rival Hokies controlled much of the possession in the early parts of the match, keeping Virginia pinned back in their own third. It did not take long for them to break through, as some quick build-up passing set up a cross from inside the box, which was fired home by Virginia Tech sophomore forward Alvaro Ruiz-Mateos. The first goal has proved important to both these teams this season, as Virginia Tech is 5-0-1 when scoring first, and Virginia is 0-4-1 when opponents score first.
The Cavaliers started to drag their way back into the possession battle, generating a chance or two of their own, as fourth-year forward AJ Smith failed to convert from a tight angle in the 17th minute after a set up from Dos Santos. Smith had another chance on a rebound five minutes later, after a shot from fourth-year midfielder Brendan Lambe was deflected away from the Hokie net by sophomore goalkeeper Diego Dauzier.
Virginia Tech doubled its lead in the 25th minute. Freshman forward Luke Hamel snuck past two Virginia defenders and hit a beautiful looping shot into the top right corner from outside the left edge of the penalty box.
The Cavaliers continued to balance the game out everywhere but the scoresheet as the first half came to a close. They began to earn more clean looks at the goal, seeing fifth-year Parker Sloan just miss a back-post tap-in off of a Dos Santos cross. Virginia got outshot 6-5 in the first half, with Dauzier making three saves, compared to Cavalier fourth-year goalkeeper Caleb Tunks’ two.
The second half started as poorly as the first, with lapses in transition defense forcing Virginia to rely on two solid one-on-one saves from Tunks, keeping the Cavaliers in it. Virginia spent much of the early parts of the second half playing chase, not generating a shot for over 15 minutes.
However, this trend seemed to flip on its head as the second half progressed, as the Cavaliers started to generate more and more offense. Smith had another shot from close range at a tight angle knocked away by Dauzier, and fellow fourth-year Brendan Lambe suffered a similar fate, seeing a great shot of his saved by the Hokie keeper. Smith and Lambe would lead the Cavaliers in shots with four each, Dos Santos close behind with three.
It was here in the last 20 minutes of the game where the Virginia offense really began to flow. They found great crosses, worked the ball around well in the middle, and on-field leadership from Lambe and Dos Santos kept the intensity high. These efforts would be rewarded when, in the 81st minute, Dos Santos dribbled past a defender into the box and was fouled. A penalty kick was awarded, and just as he has all season long, Dos Santos delivered, putting the ball into the left corner of the net, past the outstretched hands of Dauzier. This was his fifth goal of the season.
The Cavaliers continued to knock on the door for the last 10 minutes. They fired in corner kicks, attacked the goal from outside the box, and tried to slip it through tight spaces in possession. Through all of this, the Virginia Tech back line stayed sound, especially Dauzier, who would deny yet another close range Lambe shot. WIth time ticking down, the Hokies regained possession of the ball and got on the offensive, resulting in a three-on-one to goal, but Tunks remained calm and saved the last shot as time expired, bringing his total to a career high of seven saves.
In what seemed like a must-win game Friday for Virginia, it was Virginia Tech that stole the show. Dauzier made six saves, the Hokies generated nine shots on goal, and they walked out of Klöckner Stadium with only their seventh win against Virginia since 1960, when the rivalry first took to the pitch.
The Cavaliers fell below .500 again with six games remaining in their regular season. They will be at home again on Tuesday, against Queens University, in a non-conference matchup. That game will start at 6 p.m.
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