The No. 12 UVA men’s soccer team played Xavier to a 1-1 draw after two overtimes and 110 minutes Friday evening at Klöckner Stadium. Freshman Leon Maric (Gilbertsville, Pa.) scored in the 62nd minute as Virginia (1-0-1) came back after conceding a goal just three minutes earlier.
“It was a good response,” Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. “I thought our time to win the game was around the time we scored the goal. Leading up to the goal, the goal, and about a 15-minute stretch after the goal, we had them on their heels and that was our time to get that second goal. They weathered the storm in that regard, but I give them credit. They’re a good team.”
Virginia dominated the second half, piling up a 13-5 advantage in shots while earning 12 corner kicks. In all, UVA out-shot Xavier 18-14, while the Musketeers (1-1-1) put seven shots on goal to UVA’s six. The Cavaliers racked up a 16-4 edge in corners.
UVA goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell (Jr., Todd, N.C.) was outstanding with six saves, including two one-handed stops in extra time to keep the draw in tact. Xavier keeper Jake Ciricillo made five saves.
Xavier took advantage of a Virginia turnover deep in its own zone to break through with the game’s first goal in the 58th minute. After the Cavaliers’ misplay, Walker Adriot slipped a pass through the UVA back line to find Matt Vasquenza, who drove into the box and then fired from about 12 yards, finding the back of the net, just inside the far post.
UVA immediately responded in the 62nd minute with a flurry of shots. Victor Falck (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.) sent a shot off the crossbar, and Maric collected the ball in traffic and flicked it in past Ciricillo for his first college score.
From there, the Cavaliers continued to bring waves of pressure, racking up nine shots and eight corners over the final 30 minutes of regulation but to no avail. A Daniel Barir (So., Copenhagen, Denmark) shot in the final five seconds sailed just wide of the upper corner of the net.
Caldwell made a brilliant save on a Jalen Brown shot in the 96th minute and one-upped it by denying Majed Osman from short range in the 102nd minute.
UVA has a short turnaround before its next match as it travels to James Madison at 7 p.m. Monday (Sept. 5) for a Labor Day clash in the Cavaliers’ first trip to Harrisonburg since Sept. 25, 1991.
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Chris Graham
