Daniel Mangarov scored a goal and assisted on another three minutes later, propelling Virginia to a three-goal first half and a 4-0 win over Rider on Monday night at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia(1-1-0) controlled 60 percent of possession and didn’t allow a single Rider shot in the first half, and the Cavaliers’ persistence paid off when in the 13th minute, Phil Horton won a strong challenge in midfield that Mangarov recovered.
Mangarov quickly slipped the ball back in behind to Horton, whose blast of an attempt was saved by the goalkeeper. However, Mangarov was there to put home the rebound and tally his first goal as a Cavalier.
It didn’t take long for Mangarov put his fingerprints on the game again. Just two minutes later, the junior put an out-swinging ball from a free kick into the penalty area, where Moritz Kappelsberger blasted his header into the top corner and doubled the Virginia lead.
In the 35th minute, it was Virginia’s leading scorer from the 2021 campaign, Leo Afonso, who opened his account for 2022. After receiving a throw-in from Isaiah Byrd, Afonso turned on the ball and guided it into the far corner of goal with the perfect strike.
Virginia slammed the door shut in the final minute of the first half as Jeremy Verley rocketed a free kick off the left post for Kome Ubogu to guide into the net.
“It was a great team performance tonight,” UVA coach George Gelnovatch said. “I’m really happy we were able to put the game to bed in the first half and be able to put lots of people on in the second half and get to play a ton of guys. Now we get to focus on Thursday which will be a really good game.”
Virginia is back in action on Thursday when the Cavaliers host in-state foe James Madison.
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Chris Graham
