Men’s Soccer: No. 11 Virginia falls to UMass, 1-0, in NCAA third-round match

By Colin Moore
JerryRatcliffe.com correspondent

The Virginia men’s soccer team had its season come to an end Saturday, suffering a 1-0 loss against Massachusetts in the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

In a very competitive matchup, the 11th-seeded Cavaliers and Minutemen battled for an entire 90 minutes at Klöckner Stadium, as neither team wanted their season to end. UMass struck in the 72nd minute with the lone goal of the match, and the Wahoos could not find the equalizer in the waning minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first half presented an exciting opening 45 minutes, as both teams were competing hard. UMass led the half in shots with 8 (3 on target), forcing UVA goalkeeper Joey Batrouni into 3 saves.

Batrouni made a pair of uncontested 1v1 saves where a UMass attacker got free inside the Hoos’ 18-yard box. The second important save in the first half was from a UMass free kick, where the ball bounced under the wall and rolled into the pathway of Matt Cence, who struck a left-footed shot that bounced off Batrouni’s chest.

The Minutemen were also creating dangerous opportunities on long throw-ins, but fortunately for the Cavaliers, Nick Dang managed to win most of them.

The Hoos (11-7-3) created a few chances, but none extremely dangerous. Dang had an opportunity three minutes into the match from a set-piece corner kick, but ultimately headed the ball over the crossbar while driving to the grass.

The Hoos had another opportunity that came from a free kick. The ball was played towards the near post to the run of Dang, but the ball was punched by UMass Goalie Alex Geczy, falling to the foot of AJ Smith, who rocketed a shot over the crossbar.

The second half was a physical battle, as both teams were generating opportunities in their attacking third while also playing soundly on the defensive end. UVA had more chances in this 45 minutes, but it just didn’t go the way the Cavaliers wanted.

“We knew this would be a difficult game,” George Gelnovatch said after the match. “When you get to the Round of 16 of the NCAA tournament, each team is here for a reason. This team was difficult to break down, very direct and hard to deal with. And we knew that would be the case. And, you know, it took an own goal to decide the game. It’s obviously disappointing, but the guys played hard, played well, and we came up on the wrong side today.”

Unfortunately for the Cavalier faithful in attendance, they witnessed the Hoos go down in the 71st minute from an unfortunate own goal. UMass’s goal occurred when Matt Fordham received the ball near the Cavaliers end line. Fordham attempted to cross the ball to a fellow teammate but instead ricochet off of Parker Sloan’s leg and into the back of Batrouni’s net, with nothing he could have done in such short notice.

The Cavaliers managed multiple shots in the remaining 19 minutes but couldn’t find the equalizer to extend their season. Batrouni also made three more huge saves in the second half, allowing the Hoos to push forward more to chase the tying goal.

UMass advances to play at No. 3 seed Denver in the quarterfinals next week, while the Cavaliers will look ahead to next season.

GOALS
UMass: 72’ – Parker Sloan (own goal)

FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH

“I’m proud of the guys. The team has been through a lot this year, in these last nine or 10 games, which included the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, they just really came together and were playing well down the stretch. And I’m proud of them. So that was my comment to them.

“The first nine games of the season, I think we were 2-4-3. Then at the Virginia Tech game, that game that we won sometime back in October, we went on a really good run. It could have gone the other way, very easily, but the resilience and leadership and quality of character on the team really shined through.”