Men’s Soccer: #6 UVA defeats Saint Louis, 3-0

Sophomore Daryl Dike (Edmond, Okla.) scored twice for No. 6 UVA (12-1-1) in a 3-0 win over Saint Louis (9-5) on Tuesday night (Oct. 22) at Klöckner Stadium.

The multi-goal effort was Dike’s second of his career.

Virginia produced its NCAA-best 11th shutout of the season, the most by a Cavalier team since 2014. Virginia concluded its non-conference schedule with an 8-0 record, out-scoring its non-ACC foes, 14-0. Dating back to last season, the Cavaliers are unbeaten in 15-straight regular season non-conference matches.

“I think we were a little sloppy here and there on some things but I think we did enough to get a good result,” head coach George Gelnovatch said. “Most importantly we got off to good start to score the early goal. Now we need to focus on the last two conference games and if we can take care of some business down the stretch, this is where we can get some rest in between games.”

In the 15th minute, Spencer Patton (Morrisville, Pa.) sent a ball into the middle of the box that was deflected by Daniel Steedman (Glasgow, Scotland) on to Dike for the game’s opening tally. The 1-0 advantage held until the halftime break.

A low, driving shot from Irakoze Donasiyano (Roanoke, Va.) got through the legs of Billiken goalkeeper Patrick Schulte in the 57th minute for the game’s second goal. A little under four minutes later Donasiyano slipped a pass to the right side of the box to an open Dike who unleashed a strike to the lower left 90 to give the Cavaliers a commanding, 3-0 advantage.

Dike moved into the team-lead with five goals, matching his season total from last season. Donasiyano put together a three-point night (1g, 1a) and has five points in his last three games.

Virginia netminder Colin Shutler (Middleburg, Va.) was credited with two saves, both in the second half. He made a diving stop in the 88th minute to preserve his 11th clean sheet of the year. Tuesday marked his 19th career shutout, moving him into a tie for sixth on UVA’s career shutout list.

The Cavaliers will continue ACC play on Friday when they travel to Virginia Tech. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be seen live on ACCNX.