First-half goals doom Virginia in road loss at Louisville

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Louisville scored both of its goals in the first 35 minutes of the match and held on for a 2-1 victory over Virginia on Friday. The Cavaliers suffered their second straight ACC loss and fall to 1-3-1 on the road in 2020-21.

The Cardinals (4-8-1, 3-2 ACC spring) scored a pair of unassisted goals just under 11 minutes apart in the first half that ultimately proved to be difference in the match.

Aboubacar Camara gathered a service off a set piece in front of the net and slotted a shot from close range for the first score of the game in the 24th minute. Eric Danquah scored his first goal of the season capitalizing on a Virginia turnover in the midfield that created a one-on-one breakaway opportunity.

The Cavaliers (7-7-1, 2-3 ACC spring) got on the board in the 86th minute after Cabrel Happi Kamseu (Harare, Zimbabwe) was fouled in the box. Virginia called on Leo Afonso (Boynton Beach, Fla.) to take the penalty kick and the freshman buried it for his second goal of the year. The penalty kick goal was Virginia’s third of the season and two of them have come against Louisville.

Virginia was the aggressor in the final 45 minutes of the match, attempting seven of its eight shots in the second half. Cardinal goalkeeper Detre Bell made four saves in the second stanza including three in a four-minute span beginning in the 53rd minute. He made two stops on shots by Kevin Ogudugu (Oslo, Norway) and then turned away a close-range shot by Jules Anderson (Ocean, N.J.) in the 57th minute.

On the final corner kick of the night with under two minutes remaining, Joan Gibert Fuertes (Barcelona, Spain) had his shot attempt on sail high. Virginia attempted seven of the game’s eight corner kicks.

Cavalier goalkeeper Alex Rando (New York, N.Y.) was credited with two saves on the night.

Virginia will play its regular season finale at Pitt on Thursday (April 8). The match in Pittsburgh is set for a 7 p.m. start.