Men’s Soccer: Virginia battles Cal to 1-1 draw in ACC matchup

The UVA men’s soccer team is the first traditional ACC program to play a conference road game on the Left Coast.

The cross-country trip netted the ‘Hoos a point after a 1-1 draw with Cal on Sunday at Edwards Stadium on the Cal-Berkeley campus.

There was no scoring in an evenly-played first half, with Cal (3-4-1, 0-2-1 ACC) breaking through in the 55th minute when Gaku Nishimura hit a deflected shot off the half-volley and rocketed his chance into the roof of the net to give the Golden Bears the lead at 1-0.

Just three minutes later, the Cavaliers (2-2-3, 0-1-2 ACC) answered as Paul Wiese lifted a cross into the penalty area for Kome Ubogu, who buried his chance to level the game at 1-1.

In the final half hour of play, each team created chances to take all of the three points, as Luke Burns, David Okorie and Wiese each had chances to net a winner, but neither team could break through as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

“I’m proud that our team showed the ability to go down a goal and come back to earn a result,” UVA coach George Gelnovatch said. “It’s a tough ACC game in a tough environment on the road. To go down a goal and get a response was good. From that goal, I think we took charge of the game and had chances to win it. It’s frustrating not to get the result, but there is plenty more soccer to be played this season.”