Men’s Soccer: Hoos, Terps play to 1-1 draw at Ludwig Field

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

A pair of penalties were unable to decide a highly anticipated clash between college soccer’s elites as the Virginia men’s soccer team drew 1-1 with Maryland on Monday night in the Cavaliers’ first visit to Ludwig Field since the 2015 season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a first 25 minutes of play that saw Maryland (1-1-2) create multiple scoring chances and have the majority of the ball, Virginia (2-1-1) settled into the game and established an advantage in the possession battle.  

The first truly dangerous chance of the game came in the 11th minute when Umberto Pelà slipped a ball past the Maryland back line for Reese Miller whose low shot was heroically kicked away by the Maryland goalkeeper.  

Following a Virginia corner kick in the 36th minute of play, Umberto Pelà was taken down inside the area to earn a penalty kick. Junior defender Nick Dang stepped up to the spot and calmly buried his first career penalty attempt to give Virginia the 1-0 advantage.

A D̳A̳N̳G̳ good PK!#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/qp3m0Ry7eS

— Virginia Men’s Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) September 2, 2024

As the first half drew to a close, the Cavaliers conceded a penalty of their own as Maryland’s Leon Koehl converted to send the game to halftime even at 1-1. 

Despite losing their advantage in the possession battle in the second half, Virginia continued to look dangerous on the counter attack beginning with a breakaway chance for Reese Miller. The speedy left winger carried the ball deep into the Maryland end before lifting his attempt over the bar.  

The counter was on for Virginia again minutes later when Pelà went to ground taking the ball off Maryland’s Sadam Masereka. A long thru ball from Danny Mangarov found the feet of Hayes Wood with only the goalkeeper to beat. An improbable save from the Maryland goalkeeper deflected the attempt to keep the game level. 

Wood found himself on the end of another chance with only minutes remaining in the game, but his header was once again gobbled up by the goalkeeper.

GOALS
UVA: 36’ — Nick Dang (Penalty)
UMD: 42’ — Koehl (Penalty) 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The match featured the first meeting between Virginia and Maryland at Ludwig Field since a matchup in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship in 2015 

• Nick Dang scored his third goal in four games to lead the team 

• Dang’s penalty goal was the first attempt of his college career 

• The Cavaliers conceded a goal on a penalty kick for the first time since a 2-2 draw with Syracuse in the ACC semifinal round (11/9/22) 

• Virginia put four shots on target compared to Maryland’s two
• The Cavaliers are now 31-44-11 all-time against the Terps and 13-16-17 under George Gelnovatch

FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH

“Tonight, I think we held them without a good chance. I give our guys a lot of credit for good defending, one-on-one defending, and collective defending in the box knowing that this team crosses the ball a lot and the things that they do in their attacking third…And then chance creation.

“I’ve got to be honest, their goalkeeper made two incredible saves in this game that saved the game. I’m never happy with a tie or just one point, but I am pleased with the performance.”

UP NEXT

Virginia will return to Klöckner Stadium on Friday when the team opens its ACC schedule against Duke on ACC Network. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.