Mouhameth Thiam scored in the 85th minute to break a scoreless tie, lifting #14 Virginia to a 1-0 win over #10 North Carolina in front of 2,487 fans at Klöckner Stadium.
Both teams struggled to find space in the attacking areas throughout the first half, but North Carolina (7-3-5, 2-3-3 ACC) created the better of the attacking chances early, recording six first-half shots while forcing Joey Batrouni to make a pair of saves.
The Cavaliers (10-3-3, 5-2-1 ACC), which have now won four straight, and are unbeaten in their last eight, were forced to defend for long periods of the match as the teams went into the halftime break scoreless.
In the second half Virginia registered an excellent chance at goal to open the scoring when Stephen Annor received the ball in a dangerous area near the left post. Instead of cutting it back inside, Annor let loose his shot, which was punched away by the goalkeeper. Thiam kept the ball alive with a header flicked back to Umberto Pelà, whose shot sailed wide of the far post.
In the 85th minute, Virginia’s holding midfielder, Pelà, applied pressure high up the field gaining possession before smashing the ball off a Tar Heel defender to win a Virginia corner kick.
An out-swinging ball from Axel Ahlander was headed back into the center of the penalty area, where Thiam fired a strike into the back of the net to give Virginia its one-goal lead.
“We played a very good Carolina team that had a lot to play for. They brought it, and we had to deal with it,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “I think this game was a little bit different for us since we had a midweek game against an opponent that felt like playing an ACC team.
“The thing I am most proud of about this performance is that we had to defend a lot, and we did it as a team,” Gelnovatch said. “In the second half, we were very measured on how we countered. In the last 15 minutes of the game, kind of felt like we were going to score, and sure enough we did, with good aggressive action from the team.”
The Cavaliers, with the win, secured the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament and earned an automatic berth in the quarterfinal round.
Virginia will host the winner of Syracuse and NC State in the quarterfinal round at Klöckner Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.
The match will be broadcast on ACC Network.
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Chris Graham
