Men’s soccer: UVA falls 1-0 at Louisville in ACC Quarterfinals

The No. 17 UVA men’s soccer team lost to No. 10 Louisville, 1-0, Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at Lynn Stadium in Louisville, Ky. The tournament’s 6-seed, Virginia (10-3-5) had its 10-match unbeaten streak snapped as UVA lost for the first time since Sept. 24, also at Louisville.

The third-seeded Cardinals (12-4-2) advance to face second-seeded Wake Forest Wednesday night in the semifinals in Winston-Salem. UVA now will await its NCAA tournament fate. The selection show for the 48-team field is Monday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.

“Any loss in November is disappointing, but our guys played really hard today,” Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. “Louisville is a great opponent and I know this will prepare us well for the NCAA tournament in a couple of weeks.”

UVA goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell (Jr., Todd, N.C.) made four saves, while Louisville keeper Stefan Cleveland stopped three shots in recording the clean sheet. Louisville out-shot UVA, 15-4, and held a 14-1 edge in corner kicks.

UVA’s best scoring chance came in the 32nd minute when a through ball opened up Edward Opoku (So., Rye, N.Y.) for a one-on-one opportunity with a charging Cleveland. As Cleveland dove for the ball just inside the top of the box, Opoku poked the ball past him but put too much pace on it, and the ball just rolled out of bounds before he could tap it into the open net.

Louisville scored in the 55th minute, snapping UVA’s consecutive scoreless minutes streak at 552. After a UL corner kick, UVA attempted to clear the ball, but it caromed out to the top of the box, where Tim Kubel sent a low volley through traffic and inside the near post for his second goal of the season. It marked just the third goal UVA has conceded over the last 11 matches.

UVA pressed forward in the waning minutes, but the Louisville defense was up to the challenge. The Cardinals poked several balls away from the Cavaliers in and near the box to prevent UVA from getting off a clean look before time expired.