No. 7 Notre Dame (6-2-1, 2-1-1 ACC) scored the game-tying goal early in the second half in a 1-1 draw with No. 10 Virginia (6-1-2, 1-1-2 ACC) at Alumni Stadium.
Virginia, playing its second top-10 opponent in its last three games, jumped out to the early 1-0 advantage in the 32nd minute. Senior Pablo Aguilar (Guatemala City, Guatemala) scored his third goal of the season by one-touching a Nathaniel Crofts Jr. (Sheffield, England) cross into the lower right corner of the net. The assist by Crofts was his first collegiate point.
The play was initiated in the midfield on a long service to the near sideline by Jean-Christophe Koffi (Potomac, Md.). The ball was tracked down by Crofts Jr. and sent into the middle for a waiting Aguilar. Koffi was credited with his third assist of the season and it marked his second-straight game with a point.
The equalizer came off the foot of Thomas Ueland just 6:33 into the second half. The Notre Dame junior worked through traffic at the top of the box and tucked a left-footed strike underneath the cross bar. The unassisted goal was his second of the year.
Over the course of regulation, the Virginia defense held off a number of close range Notre Dame scoring chances including a big save by Jeff Caldwell (Todd, N.C.) with 30 seconds left in regulation. The Fighting Irish held a slight, 10-9 advantage in shots after the first 90 minutes of play and were able to fire off all three shots in the 20 minutes of overtime.
Caldwell finished the night with a pair of saves while his counterpart, Chris Hubbard made just one stop in 110 minutes of action. For the game, the Notre Dame attack finished with a 13-9 advantage in shots and out-cornered the Virginia, 9-2.
Since Notre Dame entered the ACC prior to the 2013 season, they are an even 3-3-3 in nine meetings against Virginia. The Cavaliers own a 6-3-3 edge in an all-time series that began in 1985 and move to 3-2-1 in matches at Alumni Stadium.
Up Next: Virginia will return home Monday night (Oct. 2) to host Portland and kick-off a three-game home stand.
Game Notes
-Eight of Virginia’s 11 starters, including Caldwell played all 110 minutes.
-Reserve Julian Cummings made an appearance in his ninth-straight game for the Cavaliers, logging 51 minutes.
-The match marked the fifth overtime game of the season and the third that went to a second extra session.
-Virginia is 2-1-2 in overtime games in 2017.
-Aguilar’s goal was his 12th of his career, second most among active Cavaliers (Opoku-13).
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Chris Graham
