Last night's men's soccer game was a tale of two halves. The first half saw a Cavalier squad that was sluggish and unable to finish the majority of their chances against a weaker Manhattan team. The second half saw a Cavalier squad that looked like the team who beat second ranked Wake Forest on Saturday and a team with ACC and national championship aspirations.
In the first half, the Cavaliers controlled the possession a majority of the time, but were unable to attack Manhattan's defense. The Cavaliers first legitimate scoring chance of the game came with thirty minutes left in the first half when freshman Jeremy Barlow attacked down the left side and found forward Matt Ayotte inside in the box. Ayotte lunged to reach the ball, but could not muster enough power to beat Manhattan goalkeeper Collin Leaver. Despite the Cavaliers' continued advantage in time of possession, they could not find the back of the net for the next 20 minutes. Though his team controlled the tempo, Virginia coach George Gelnovatch wanted his team to attack the Jaspers' net more often.
"You don't win games by putting a string of passes together," Gelnovatch said. "We need to penetrate [the defense]."
The Cavaliers were finally able to penetrate Manhattan's defense when Ayotte scored on a cross from fellow freshman Chris Tierney with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
"The first goal makes us feel more comfortable about what we do," Ayotte said.
However, the Cavaliers' comfort -- and their lead for that matter -- was short-lived as Manhattan scored the equalizer only five minutes later. The Jaspers had a free kick following a foul by the Cavaliers. The free kick was taken by midfielder Justin Schultz, who lofted a ball past the Cavalier defense. Schultz's chip found the head of midfielder Brian Lundy who directed the ball past Virginia goalie Ryan Burke. Lundy's goal tied the game and the Cavaliers headed into halftime needing an increased effort level.
That effort was likely sparked by the halftime speech given by Gelnovatch.
"I got pretty animated in the locker room," he said. "I lit into them at halftime and I think it worked."
Gelnovatch's words worked indeed. The Cavaliers stormed through the second half, scoring three goals in a thirty minute span.
The first goal of the second half came when defender Hunter Freeman crossed a seemingly harmless ball into the Jaspers' six-yard box. However, the Manhattan goalie fumbled the ball and accidentally knocked it into his own net, giving the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead.
"Once we got that second goal, then the second half was good," Gelnovatch said.
Following the second goal, the Cavaliers played much looser and the goals continued to mount. Matt Oliver scored Virginia's third goal with a beautiful flick off a corner kick from Freeman. Oliver's goal was followed by a fourth and final tally as senior Kirk Dinnall capitalized upon a poor clearance by the Jasper defense to give the Cavaliers a 4-1 victory.
While the Cavaliers were able to defeat Manhattan with a poor first half performance, they will likely need to play the entirety of their next contest -- an ACC game at North Carolina -- with the same intensity and aggression they displayed in the second half last night if they want to come away with a similar result.
Read More
No. 14 women’s lacrosse unable to slow No. 2 North Carolina in road defeat
By Eleanor Buchanan | 53 minutes agoThe lopsided defeat may prove to be a developmental stepping-stone.
Road loss to Syracuse concludes turbulent regular season for men’s basketball
By Emory Huffman | 10 hours agoEntering the ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers are left with more questions than answers.
Men's lacrosse triumphs over Towson in historic Houston matchup
By Eleanor Lynch | 11 hours agoVirginia earned a sorely-needed victory, and established momentum ahead of a pending clash with No. 1 Maryland.
