After losing a significant chunk of production and experience from last year’s roster, Virginia’s George Gelnovatch is slowly putting together another contender.
Make no mistake, his 15th-ranked Cavaliers, who open the season at Klöckner Stadium Friday against No. 19 New Hampshire, have a nice mix of experienced talent and promising youth including eight freshmen and a transfer.
Gelnovatch, entering his 23rd season as UVa men’s soccer head coach, just wishes he had a little more time to put together the pieces of this year’s puzzle.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys that we’re still trying to get a feel for, and this is the time of the year to do it,” said Gelnovatch, the program’s winningest coach who played at Virginia in the 80’s and has been a part of all seven UVa national championship teams, including two as head coach (2009, 2014). “In one sense I like the influx of new guys, in particular how talented they are, on the other hand I need more time.
“Our preseason is two weeks, it’s crazy, and we’re getting right into a game. So we’re going to have to use a little bit of our season to figure things out a little bit and make sure we’re winning along the way, which is the trick of trying to tinker, find the right balance, look at some young guys, and win — and that’s the balance when you have a two-week preseason. That’s the dilemma, but everybody’s in that situation so we’ll make the best of it.”
Six members of last year’s squad, including three important third-year contributors, are now playing professionally. Virginia, which is picked to finish second in the Coastal Division, will have to replace its top two scorers in Edward Opoku (8 goals in 2017) and Pablo Aguilar (7 goals), as well as starting goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell, an all-conference selection in each of the past three seasons (the first and only Wahoo keeper to achieve that feat). Caldwell, who made 190 career saves including 50 last season, played over 5,000 consecutive minutes in goal over that three-year span.
Gone too is defensive specialist Sheldon Sullivan, who also started every game in 2017 and logged close to 2,000 minutes.
Caldwell (19th overall pick, NYCFC), Opoku (32nd pick, Columbus), Aguilar (59th pick, Houston) and Sullivan (66th pick, Houston) were each selected in January’s MLS Super Draft.
Then came a bit of a curveball following the spring, when junior Jean-Christophe Koffi (the Wahoos’ lone All-ACC first-teamer in 2017) and sophomore Raheem Taylor-Parkes both left the program to pursue pro deals overseas.
Of the returning players, a couple of key pieces are either injured or late arrivals, prompting Gelnovatch to find answers quicker than he might have liked to, especially considering that the team has only played two exhibition games in the two weeks leading up to Friday’s opener.
To his delight, several players have stepped up as a result on a team that he says will have a considerably different look and feel to it than in previous years.
The ‘Hoos have 19 letter-winners returning, and a handful of them have seen their minutes increase considerably in the spring and preseason. This includes new starting goalie Colin Shutler, sophomore defender Spencer Patton, and senior forwards Simeon Okoro (who only saw action in six games) and Kennedy Nwabia, who transferred in last season from Dayton but only appeared in four contests due to injury.
Shutler, a redshirt sophomore, played just over 11 minutes in goal last season behind his mentor Caldwell, and admitted there’s nobody else he would’ve chosen to learn from.
“I’m very excited,” Shutler said of taking over the starting job. “Being on the sideline to Jeff, learning from him day by day, it’s been a real pleasure and I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the past two years and I’m excited for the competition coming up.”
Co-captains Joe Bell and Robin Afamefuna will be looked to for leadership up front, and senior right-center back Prosper Figbe will lead the defense while another senior leader, 2017 All-ACC second-teamer Sergi Nus, continues to rehab a torn ACL he suffered in the offseason.
Bell, who started every game as a freshman, missed nearly the entire preseason as he helped his native New Zealand’s U-20 national team qualify for next year’s World Cup, but Gelnovatch has big plans for the talented youngster.
“He’s a really important piece,” said the coach. “This team is a high-energy, pressing type of team, in fact that will be a little bit different than we’ve been in that regard for a couple years. Joe adds a component of possession, a little bit of calmness when we have the ball, decision making when we have the ball to keep it — which we were missing in those first two [preseason] games. I think our pressing was excellent. Our athleticism, excellent. We just needed a little bit of that guy, or two, who can help us just make a good decision on when to keep the ball, and Joe will do a great job with that.”
Afamefuna, a native of Wuerselen, Germany who started 11 of the last 12 matches after returning from an early-season injury in 2017, has moved from the back line to the midfield, and is eager to do what he’s always done.
“I’ve always kind of felt like a leader because I feel like I’m just the type of guy who’s trying to help other people on and off the field,” said Afamefuna of the captain role. “I feel like from the first year, I’ve always been a guy who’s able to take responsibility for the team and make sure everything’s alright, asking other people if they’re okay, all that stuff. So it’s not completely new. Obviously having the armband is a great honor, especially representing this great team.”
Gelnovatch, who surpassed the legendary Bruce Arena’s win total in 2017, is confident in his starting back line of Figbe, sophomore Henry Kessler and freshman Aboubacar Keita while Nus is on the mend.
“[Keita has] taken over Sheldon Sullivan’s spot as a left-center back and he’s stepped right into that role,” the coach said. “He’s another 6-2, 185 pounds, athletic, left-footed, and hasn’t missed a beat.”
Keita is not the only newcomer that has Gelnovatch excited about the future. First-year forwards Daryl Dike, Cabrel Happi Kamseu and Daniel Steedman have all made early contributions and are each in line for playing time.
Dike was a three-time offensive player of the year in his home state of Oklahoma and was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Edmond North High School. He set a 6A state record with 70 career goals.
“That is a physical presence beast,” Gelnovatch said of Dike, who checks in at around 6-foot-2, 230 pounds. “He still needs some time, but I think he is going to be unlike a center forward that we’ve had here as long as I can remember, to be honest. But we need more time and he’s a little bit banged up.”
Gelnovatch hinted at a possible matchup nightmare combination of Dike and Nwabia, who has a similar frame of 6-2, 210 pounds.
“Those two could be kind of a one-two punch,” the coach explained, “meaning Kennedy comes in for Daryl or Daryl comes in for Kennedy 20 minutes here and there that could cause problems for the opposition.”
Other expected contributors include sophomores Nathaniel Crofts and Justin Ingram, among others.
Once again, the ‘Hoos will face a tough schedule that includes seven of their 16 opponents — New Hampshire, No. 17 Notre Dame, No. 20 Florida International, No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Clemson, No. 5 Wake Forest and No. 3 North Carolina — ranked in the United Soccer Coaches’ preseason top 20. Virginia will play six of its first seven games at Klöckner.
“Some not-so-mainstream names, but New Hampshire was in the Round of 16 last year. That’s gonna be a handful, that game,” said Gelnovatch. “We’ve got Denver on our schedule, who was in the College Cup just a couple years ago. [Florida International] last year who only lost two games. We’ve put a pretty good schedule together, but I think we do that every year. It will make us better.”
Also included is Virginia’s first meeting against Maryland since 2015. “The Battle in the District” will be played at D.C. United’s brand-new Audi Field on Labor Day (September 3).
“I think it’ll sink in a little bit better when we get there,” said Gelnovatch, “but that kind of atmosphere… relatively speaking I think we’ll have a good turnout because there’s a good presence in the D.C. area of Virginia fans, and of course Maryland will have the same. Brand new stadium, great location, so I do think it will be a good level of excitement for that.”
Despite another successful season in 2017 that included a trip to the ACC Championship game for the 19th time and a 37th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament (the nation’s longest run), things didn’t end so well. The Cavaliers finished with a 12-4-5 record and lost a heartbreaker on penalty kicks in the ACC title match after going toe-to-toe against Wake Forest. The ‘Hoos still earned the No. 11 overall seed in the Big Dance, but were upended in the second round by Fordham after dominating possession for the majority of the contest.
The team still has a bit of a bad taste in its mouth and can’t wait to get back on the pitch.
“We’re very hungry,” said Shutler. “We’re still hurting from that last ACC championship game last year and the [quick exit] in the NCAA Tournament, but we’re very hungry, ready to get out there for this first game in two days.”
Added Crofts: “We’ve never been hungrier, to be fair. Obviously it was disappointing last year but we’ve set high goals and we expect to do one better this year, and hopefully we can do that.”
All things considered, Gelnovatch feels he has another serious contender.
“The expectations are that we’re competing for a championship,” said Gelnovatch. “I think that’s got to be this program every year. Last year we lost in an ACC championship, a penalty kick away from winning an ACC championship, which is arguably harder or just as hard as winning a national championship.
“So I would say the same thing about this group. What I would say is have some patience with this group. I think there’s some young guys and some returning guys who I still need to develop and figure out, I just need a little bit more time with, but my feeling is that if we can stay healthy that it’s a good, talented group.”
Friday’s first 500 fans will get a pair of thunder sticks and the team will be signing autographs after the game. Kickoff against New Hampshire is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live through ACC Network Extra via the WatchESPN app.
One thing is for certain – the ‘Hoos can’t wait to get back at it.
“We’re Virginia,” said Afamefuna, “and Klöckner Stadium has always been very special, and all of us just expect to win every game, it doesn’t matter who we play.”