Men's soccer, Barnes trick Northeastern

There's nothing like a good benching to put some fire in your belly.

A recent string of ineffective play left Virginia junior forward Sheldon Barnes on the wrong side of the sideline last night, as the No. 11 Cavaliers hosted Northeastern. But once he entered the game in the 28th minute, Barnes lit up the Huskies and finished the night with his first career hat trick in Virginia's 4-1 win. The victory moves the Cavs to 3-2 and drops the Huskies to 2-3.

"I'm thankful to God that He blessed me with this hat trick," Barnes said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Virginia coach George Gelnovatch was pleased that Barnes responded to his benching.

"I think Sheldon played with a little inspiration today," Gelnovatch said. "If he's mad at me [for benching him], great. If he scores three goals, he can be as mad as he wants to be."

Virginia 4 - Northeastern 1

Cavalier Daily Box Score

Sophomore midfielder Kyle Martino started the scoring with his second goal of the season, but Barnes' first goal became the game winner. In the 57th minute, he headed in a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Eric Solomon from the penalty area to give the Cavs a 2-0 lead. Solomon finished with three assists.

But Barnes' next goal was the one that really impressed his teammates. Martino called it "one of the nicest goals I've seen in a while."

Streaking down the right sideline, Martino chipped a pass to Barnes at the far right-hand corner of the penalty area. With a Northeastern defender draped all over him, Barnes caught the ball off his chest and booted it with his right foot past the helpless Huskie goalkeeper, Allan Lewis.

"I got a quick glance at the goal, but the defender was right on my back," Barnes said. "I knew it was going to take a quick shot, so I basically turned and kicked it to the net."

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