In the fall of 1993, Virginia and West Virginia last played a men's soccer game against one another in Charlottesville, with the Cavaliers winning decisively 5-0. Last night, over a decade later, Virginia once again beat the Mountaineers, with a narrow 2-1 victory.
For the first 79 minutes of the game the teams held each other scoreless. Despite possession dominated almost entirely by the Cavaliers, a countering West Virginia defense held the home team by dropping back extra defenders, sometimes amounting 10 players in the goal box.
With 11 minutes remaining, West Virginia midfielder Mehran Mostafavifar and defender Devon McTavish collided in the center of the field just outside the Cavalier goal box. In a questionable call, the referees whistled one of the 15 total penalties against Virginia and West Virginia earned a free kick from the spot of the foul. Mountaineer defender Rusty Girton took the kick and shuttled the ball past Cavalier freshman goalie Ryan Burke into the net for the first goal of the game.
Just 23 seconds later, before Virginia or the home crowd could feel a change in momentum, Cavalier forward Adam Cristman seized back the advantage for Virginia. On an unassisted one-timer in the Mountaineer goal box, the freshman took his only shot of the evening and scored to tie up the game.
"They're a counter team that looks to keep it 0-0 as long as they can and score just like they did," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "Once we scored, the roof started caving in."
Then, in the 85th minute, the eighth corner kick for Virginia scored the deciding goal to put the team ahead 2-1. After two kicks across the goal, Cavalier defender Jeff Tuman used a perfectly aimed header to propel the ball past Mountaineer goalie Nick Noble.
"I think that we know that we have the personality and skill to win every game," Tuman said. "We think we should and that's what we try to do every game. [But] down 1-0 with 11 minutes left, that's pretty tough, but I think that it shows [our] character."
Virginia coach George Gelnovatch through the entire season had emphasized to his team the importance of getting ahead early in the match. With a 2-1 victory against West Virginia, the Cavaliers won their first game this season after allowing the first goal and falling behind early in the contest.
"What I'm proud of is that we had to chase the game, and we did it, and we won," Gelnovatch said. "We've played 12 games now, and this is the first game that we've been scored on first that we came back to win. At this point in the season that means a lot."
The Cavaliers continue on from this important win to begin the stretch run of their season with an important game against Duke tomorrow night in North Carolina. Two games later the team will face Maryland, the current conference leader, in a game that could preview the postseason ACC tournament final.
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