Men’s Soccer: Cavaliers storm back to defeat Eagles, 4-2

jerryratcliffe.com

Posted on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, 11:00 pm

Follow Jerry Ratcliffe on Twitter

Advertising inquiries: Connect with us

Email Jerry Ratcliffe: jratcliffe7000@gmail.com

 

By Colin Moore
JerryRatcliffe.com correspondent

Photo: UVA Athletics

Despite a slow start, Virginia notched its fourth-straight victory after storming back for a 4-2 win over American at Klöckner Stadium Tuesday.

After falling behind by two early goals, the Cavaliers were able to score four unanswered. The entire Virginia team showed great perseverance and determination to come from two goals down.

It was another outstanding performance by Cavaliers anchors Nick Dang and Joey Batrouni leading the Hoos to a great comeback performance Tuesday night. Dang was dominant in the air, winning all of his 50-50 opportunities, and Batrouni made numerous uncontested saves to help the Hoos to victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Cavaliers (6-4-3) had a slow start to the match as they allowed two goals within the first 15 minutes to American (3-5-5) on a brisk night in Charlottesville.

The first goal occurred in the fifth minute when Troy Elgersma made a fantastic run into the box. Once receiving the ball, Elgersma beat two Cavalier defenders and took a shot that Batrouini made a great initial kick save on. Unfortunately for the Hoos, the ball ricocheted directly to Toshi Davis, who shot the ball that was deflected off Grant Howard’s leg but went into the Cavaliers’ net for the opening goal of the match.

The second goal for American occurred a few moments later, when again Elgersma was involved. This time, Elgersma turned the Hoos over in the defensive third, made a quick pass to the center of the field where Sam Hershey took a fantastic one-touch shot into the top left of Batrouni’s net. Honestly, there was nothing Batrouni could do, as it was a perfect finish.

The Hoos earned a goal later on in the 18th minute off one of their five corners in the first half. Who else but Dang to again get his head to a ball. Daniel Mangarov’s ball was punched straight into the air by goalie Matthew Tibbetts, but ultimately found the head of Dang for the Hoos’ opening goal. The officials went to the monitors to double check an offside call, but the goal stood.

The Cavaliers were able to gain a little momentum with this goal, gaining the majority of the possession towards the end of the half. The Hoos led in shots with 10 (1 on goal) to American’s 5 (4 on goal). Batrouni was able to register two saves in the opening half to keep the teams just one goal apart.

UVA coach George Gelnovatch must have had an inspiring halftime speech, as the Hoos came out of the half a completely different team. Kome Ubogu opened the second-half scoring spree in the 47th minute after David Okorie played a one-two with Mangarov just outside the box.

Okorie continued his run past the defenders of American and was able to pick out Ubogu, who beat his defender near post for a simple tap-in finish to equal the scoring at 2 goals each.

Moments later, Luke Burns got on the scoring sheet after some more tremendous ball movement across the field. The ball found Grant Howard in the right corner of the field, who made a penetrating pass to Ubogu.

Ubogu laid it out towards the endline just inside the box, where Howard was able to spot the run of Burns. Burns found the back of the net for the Hoos’ third goal of the match, as Burns celebrated with a nifty knee-slide celebration towards his teammates in the corner.

The final goal occurred in the 60th minute by Ubogu to allow the Hoos to go up two goals. This goal was set up by Alex Parvu, who made a ridiculous acrobatic move along the sideline to keep the ball in.

He somehow was able to flick the ball with his heel to Albin Gashi, who then played the ball back to Parvu towards the corner flag where he was able to whip the ball across the goal. It found Ubogu’s head, where he made a glancing header to the back post sneaking it past Tibbetts.

GOALS
AU: 5’ – Toshi Davis
AU: 12’ – Samuel Hershey (Troy Elgersma, Oliver Snowden)
UVA: 18’ – Nick Dang (Paul Wise)
UVA: 47’ – Kome Ubogu (David Okorie, Daniel Mangarov)
UVA: 52’ – Luke Burns (Grant Howard, Kome Ubogu)
UVA: 60’ – Kome Ubogu (Alex Parvu, Albin Gashi)

ADDITIONAL NOTES
Courtesy UVA Media Relations

  • Paul Wiese recorded his 22nd career assist and is now tied for 10th all-time in UVA history
  • Kome Ubogu totaled five points in the match (2g, 1a) to tie a career-high (vs VCU, 9/28/21)
  • Ubogu is the first Cavalier to record five points in a single match since Phil Horton in a 3-1 win at Pitt (9/30/22)
  • Ubogu’s multi-goal match is the second by a Cavalier in 2024 (Reese Miller, vs SJU 8/29/24)
  • Nick Dang scored his fifth goal of the season to lead the team in the category
  • David Okorie, Grant Howard, and Alex Parvu each recorded their first career points as all three pitched in assists
  • Freshman Luke Burns recorded his second career goal and has scored two goals in under 200 minutes of action in 2024
  • The Cavaliers netted four goals in a game for the second time this season
  • American’s opening goal is the earliest goal conceded by the Cavaliers this season (5:02)

WITH THE WIN…

  • Virginia records its first comeback victory of the season and its first since a 2-1 win over Pitt (10/13/23)
  • The Cavaliers recorded a victory after trailing by two goals for the first time since a 3-2 overtime win over Virginia Tech (10/19/2012)
  • UVA increases its win streak to four consecutive games
  • Virginia improves to 6-4-3 overall and records its fifth win at Klöckner Stadium

FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH

“It was a real slow start. Sometimes we run into these games after three wins in a row and traveling to Boston College and back. They scored two quick goals on us. I would have to think back to remember the last time we went down two goals and won the game, so I give us a lot of credit for that. The changes we made at halftime, to be honest with you, resulted in goals. Alex Parvu, Luke Burns and David Okorie were instrumental in setting up those goals, and that’s what you want.”

UP NEXT

The Hoos face ACC opponent Syracuse on Saturday night for Senior Night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.