Virginia and Maryland each scored on first-half PKs, and that was it for the night, as the former ACC rivals battled to a 1-1 draw in match at Ludwig Field in College Park on Monday.
Maryland (1-1-2) dominated the first 25 minutes of play before Virginia (2-1-1) settled into the game and established an advantage in the possession battle.
Following a Virginia corner kick in the 36th minute of play, Umberto Pelà was taken down inside the area to earn a penalty kick. Junior defender Nick Dang stepped up to the spot and calmly buried his first career penalty attempt to give Virginia the 1-0 advantage.
As the first half drew to a close, the Cavaliers conceded a penalty of their own as Maryland’s Leon Koehl converted to send the game to halftime even at 1-1.
Virginia had chances to break the deadlock in the second half, one on a breakaway from Reese Miller, whose shot after a long run flew over the bar, another on a pass from Danny Mangarov that found the feet of Hayes Wood with only the goalkeeper to beat, knocked away by a nice save.
“Tonight, I think we held them without a good chance,” UVA coach George Gelnovatch said. “I give our guys a lot of credit for good defending, one-on-one defending, and collective defending in the box knowing that this team crosses the ball a lot and the things that they do in their attacking third. And then chance creation. I’ve got to be honest, their goalkeeper made two incredible saves in this game that saved the game. I’m never happy with a tie or just one point, but I am pleased with the performance.”
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Chris Graham
