No. 1 Wake Forest (15-1, 6-1 ACC) scored the final two goals in a thrilling, 3-2 decision over No. 6 UVA (9-2-2, 3-2-1 ACC) at Klöckner Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The two teams combined for four second half goals.
Freshman Daniel Steedman (Cornelius, N.C.) started a scoring frenzy with a go-ahead goal in the 73rd minute, giving Virginia a 2-1 advantage. Wake Forest responded with back-to-back goals in the 77th and 78th minutes to retake the lead at 3-2. The two teams combined three goals in a 4:52-minute span.
“This was a very disappointing result,” head coach George Gelnovatch said. “We scored two great goals and created some other good chances so we should feel good about that. The positives are that we’re as good or better than that team (Wake Forest). They (Wake Forest) are a very good team, one of the best but I think so are we.”
The Demon Deacons clinched their fourth-straight Atlantic Division Regular Season Championship with the victory.
Wake Forest was able to subdue a crowd of 2,791 at Klöckner Stadium with the game’s first goal in the 14th minute. Omir Fernandez’s shot attempt from the near post was denied by Colin Shutler (Broadlands, Va.) but the rebound deflected to the far post where Machop Chol was for the easy tap in. The goal for Chol was his first of the season.
Trailing 1-0 at the half, sophomore Irakoze Donasiyano (Roanoke, Va.) ignited the crowd with an equalizing goal in the 64th minute, the first tally of his collegiate career. A superb individual effort, Donasiyano bent a left-footed shot from outside the box to the far left corner, past the outstretched arms of Wake Forest goalkeeper Dominic Peters.
A little over nine minutes later, Steedman netted his second of the season on a corner kick service by Joe Bell (Wanaka, New Zealand) that was then headed on by Cabrel Happi Kamseu (Harare, Zimbabwe) With his back against the goal, Steedman flipped for the short-ranged bicycle kick to put Virginia in front for the first time.
The Demon Deacons responded with goals just 1:37 apart, the first by Logan Gdula and then the game-winner by Justin McMaster. The final goal came after Shutler blocked the first attempt but McMaster was able to coral his own rebound for the game-deciding score.
Wake Forest held a 13-12 edge in shots while Virginia attempted all three of the game’s corner kicks.
The Virginia defense, that came into the contest with an ACC-low, six goals conceded, gave up multiple goals in a game for the first time this season. The last time Virginia gave up three goals in a game was Sept. 17, a 3-3 draw vs. Clemson.
Virginia will play its final home game of the regular season on Tuesday (Oct. 23) when they host No. 16 Notre Dame at Klöckner Stadium. The match is a makeup from the original game scheduled for Sept. 14 that was postponed due to Hurricane Florence.
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Chris Graham
