Men’s Soccer: UCLA upsets No. 11 Virginia in season opener, 2-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Marco Dos Santos leveled the score just past the hour mark, but an 81st-minute strike saw UCLA defeat No. 11 Virginia by a score of 2-1 on Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium.

GOALS
38’ — UCLA: de la Vibora (Amaro)
65’ — UVA: Dos Santos (Lambe)
81’ — UCLA: Hall

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams created opportunities in the opening 45 minutes, but UCLA struck first when David de la Vibora headed in a corner taken by Jaime Amaro in the 38th minute. The Cavaliers were outshot 8-4 in an opening frame that saw Spencer Sanderson make a pair of saves in his UVA debut.

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The Cavaliers could sense a goal coming in the early moments of the second half and broke through in the 65th minute off a well-worked piece of build-up play culminating with a goal from Marco Dos Santos set up by Brendan Lambe.

Virginia continued to turn the screws in search of a winner, outshooting the Bruins 10-6 in the final 45 minutes. However, it was Logan Hall’s strike from the top of the penalty area that served as the game-winning goal for UCLA.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Marco Dos Santos notched his second goal as a Cavalier
Brendan Lambe tallied the second assist of his career
Third-year goalkeeper Spencer Sanderson made his collegiate debut and recorded five saves
A total of six players made their UVA debuts including: Isaac Mwakatuya (90’), Arnold Matshazi (65’), Spencer Sanderson (90’), Ethan Martinez (45’), Prince Abanfo (45’) and Chase Duke (17’)
Virginia falls to 3-8-1 in the all-time series with UCLA
Both teams registered 14 shot attempts
Virginia placed three shots on target compared to UCLA’s seven

FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH

“We played a very good team in our opening game, and it was a good game. I thought the adjustments we made in second half were very good and we scored a great goal. I think we were turning the screws, and I felt like we had that moment in the game, and then some guys started cramping, we had some stoppage of plays, and we just kind of lost our way…It was a very solid performance against a quality opponent.”

FROM MARCO DOS SANTOS

“Think we were a little bit unlucky. [We are] still getting to know each other as a team. We hadn’t conceded first in a preseason game, so I thought our reaction was actually overall positive in the second half. We came out and scored the goal, the team was ticking and we could have scored the second. It’s a negative, but we can take the positives from it and go after the next one.”

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will be back in action on Monday when they host No. 16 High Point at Klöckner Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).

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