Men’s Soccer: UMass ends UVA’s season, 1-0, in NCAA Tournament third round

A UVA own goal was the difference in a 1-0 loss to UMass in the third round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville.

UMass (13-3-5) held an 8-2 edge in shots in the first half, including a sequence in the final minute in which the Minutemen took three shots.

The first two were blocked, and the final one sailed high just before the end of the period.

Hayes Wood came out firing to start the second half, taking a shot three minutes into the period, but his attempt was blocked. He had one of the better scoring opportunities for UVA (11-7-3) with 28 minutes left in the game, taking a shot that was blocked before firing a second attempt that was saved.

Albin Gashi had a strong strike with 22:38 remaining, but it was also saved by the keeper.

The Minutemen broke the deadlock with 18:39 remaining in the game. Mike Willis fired off a cross that struck defender Parker Sloan and deflected off him into the goal.

Kome Ubogu took the only other shot in the remainder of the game, firing an attempt wide right with 1:30 left in the game.

“We knew this would be a difficult game. When you get to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament, each team is here for a reason,” UVA coach George Gelnovatch said. “This team was difficult to break down, very direct and hard to deal with. And we knew that would be the case. And, you know, it took an own goal to decide the game. It’s obviously disappointing, but the guys played hard, played well, and we came up on the wrong side today.

“I’m proud of the guys. The team has been through a lot this year, in these last, nine or 10 games, which included the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, they just really came together and were playing well down the stretch. And I’m proud of them. So that was my comment to them. The first nine games of the season, I think we were 2-4-3. Then at the Virginia Tech game, that game that we won sometime back in October, we went on a really good run. It could have gone the other way, very easily, but the resilience and leadership, and quality of character on the team really shined through.”