Axel Ahlander scored twice to pace #14 Virginia in a 3-1 ‘Hoos win over High Point on Tuesday night at Klöckner Stadium.
Next up for UVA (9-3-3, 3-2-1 ACC): #10 North Carolina on Friday night.
High Point (8-2-4, 5-0-1 Big South) was able to hang around for a while on Tuesday, just missing on an opportunity in the 22nd minute when a cross was deflected into the air before looping towards the face of goal.
A composed Joey Batrouni dealt with the danger by pushing the ball over the crossbar.
Virginia broke through in the 32nd minute of play after Ahlander won the ball back for Virginia in a dangerous area. Mouhameth Thiam recovered the loose ball and drove with intent to the penalty area. Cutting onto his right foot, he curled a low shot around a High Point defender and into the back of the net to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead, which they would take into the halftime break.
Just minutes after the whistle sounded to begin the second half, Virginia had already found the back of the net once again. A free kick from Paul Wiese fell to the feet of Ahlander in the penalty area, where the senior finished his chance to double the lead.
Less than 10 minutes later, a long cross from Reese Miller was controlled by Wiese on the right wing. A pass back to the feet of Albin Gashi was immediately directed back into the center of the penalty area where Ahlander was there to get on the end of things once more for 3-0.
High Point pulled one back just past the hour mark when Brendan Krueger slipped a pass behind the Virginia back line where Tony Pineda was there to slot it home.
“We scored three goals against a really good team tonight,” UVA coach George Gelnovatch said. “I knew this would be a tough game for us coming off two very good ACC wins with the Carolina game right around the corner, so I was worried about this game. Getting three goals in the manner that we did was a professional performance. It wasn’t our best performance, but getting the win tonight means a lot.”
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Chris Graham
