Lots of action in the first half, with Virginia answering an early Pitt goal with goals from Mo Thiam and Stephen Annor, then holding off the 11th-ranked Panthers in the final 45 minutes to secure the 2-1 upset Friday night at Klöckner Stadium.
The Panthers (5-4-3, 2-2-2 ACC) got on the board first, in the ninth minute, when a loose ball in the area fell to the feet of Albert Thorsen, whose tap-in goal put Virginia (7-3-3, 3-2-1 ACC) behind 1-0.
The Cavaliers got back on level terms in the 18th minute when Umberto Pelà picked out the run of Paul Wiese down the right side. Wiese slid his pass into Thiam, who finished his chance to level the score at 1-1.
In the 28th minute the Cavaliers broke through again. Reese Miller swung a perfect ball in to Thiam down the left side of the field. Thiam squared his pass to Annor, who tapped this chance into the net to give Virginia a 2-1 advantage going into the half.
The score was seventh goal for Annor in his last eight matches and his eighth of the season overall.
“That game kicked off with a lot of transition and a lot of back and forth. We thought it would be a very tactical game,” UVA coach George Gelnovatch said. “To be honest with you, the ways that we scored, and the ways that we got chances, in particular in the first half, were the ways we thought we were going to get chances. They play with a very high line, which is risky, especially with the speed and dangerous attacking players that we have. It’s kind of how we got behind them and scored.”
The Virginia press was relentless in the second half, but goals were harder to come by, and the Cavaliers had to be strong in defense.
Joey Batrouni made a pair of critical stops just after the hour mark to keep Virginia ahead. While Brendan Lambe’s diving block in the penalty area proved crucial as well as Virginia held on to secure the victory.
The win was the first comeback victory of the season for Virginia, in the third consecutive match in which the Cavaliers had to rally from a 1-0 deficit to earn a positive result.
“For the past three games we’ve been scored on first, and today we won after tying the two games before. I thought it was a really good effort from our guys to get the win tonight instead of the tie,” Gelnovatch said.
The win gives Virginia a 7-1-1 mark at home his season, and vaults the Cavaliers into second place in the ACC Coastal Division with 10 points in conference action.
Virginia hits the road for the last time in the regular season on Friday when the Cavaliers travel to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
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Chris Graham
