A goal in the fifth minute from sophomore Daniel Steedman was enough for No. 5 UVA (5-0) in a 1-0 win over Radford (1-3-2) at Klöckner Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers produced their ACC-best, fourth shutout of the season.
A Robin Afamefuna (Wuerselen, Germany) cross attempt was knocked out the middle of the box by a Radford defender and Steedman was able to one-touch it with his left foot into the right side of the net for the eventual game-winner. It was Steedman’s second game-winner in the last three games as his goal against High Point on Sept. 7 also was the difference in a 1-0 non-conference win.
Virginia is 5-0 for the 10th time in its 76-year history and the first time since 2006.
“Anytime you can get a clean sheet it’s a positive thing and I think tonight was another example of that,” head coach George Gelnovatch said. “I thought it was a great start and I felt there was an opportunity to jump on them early and get another one. I thought the second goal, had we got it, could have broken them a little more and made our lives a little easier.”
Goalkeeper Colin Shutler (Middleburg, Va.) made four saves and was credited with his fourth shutout in five games. The redshirt-junior now has 12 clean sheets in two seasons as the Cavaliers primary netminder, one shy of cracking the program’s career top-10. Shutler and the Cavaliers came into the match with the lowest goals against average (0.25) in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the fourth-lowest in the country.
Virginia maintained 58 percent of the game’s possession and out-cornered the Highlanders 8-1. Both teams finished with nine shots.
The Cavaliers will continue ACC play on Friday (Sept. 20) when it hosts NC State at 7 p.m. The contest will air live on ACCNX.
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Chris Graham
