No. 4 seed Virginia edged past No. 13 seed New Mexico to book its place in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.
Winning didn't come easy as the Cavaliers had to survive an epic penalty shootout that went to eight rounds after the game ended tied at 1-1 in regulation. Virginia's goalkeeper Ryan Burke was the hero of the game, as he recorded a game-high four stops and made three crucial penalty saves.
"It's a tough way [for New Mexico] to go down, and I know that stinks," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "For us it was just great and what I would call staying the course."
Virginia made its intent clear from the opening whistle and committed numbers into attack. The Cavaliers' hard work paid off when New Mexico failed to clear its lines following a dangerous Virginia corner. The ball fell to freshman Jeremy Barlow, who made no mistake from a few yards out, handing Virginia a 1-0 lead only 14 minutes into the game. Virginia continued on the aggressive as the Lobos struggled against the Cavaliers' aerial attack.
"In the whole game, the good chances came from crosses and restarts," Gelnovatch said. "Most teams don't usually see the quality of crosses we put in from the flanks."
New Mexico equalized 13 minutes later when midfielder Hans Bevers sent a cross into the center of the field unto the feet of striker Patrick Grange. Grange found space outside Virginia's 18 and turned brilliantly before rifling a shot to the bottom left corner of Burke's goal, bringing the Lobos back on level terms.
New Mexico took over the game after scoring and spurned a couple of opportunities to go ahead before the halftime break.
"It was a hard fought game," New Mexico coach Jeremy Fishbein said. "We had a few chances, in the positions to score goals, but we were unable to capitalize."
The second half was a close affair with both teams enjoying periods of dominance but without any goals to show for their efforts. The best chance of the half fell to Virginia's David Rosenbaum, who was able to get the ball past New Mexico's defense, but with only the goalkeeper to beat pushed the ball too far, presenting Lobo goalie Andrew Weber with an easy save.
The game went into double overtime with the scores tied, but resolute defending on both sides prevented an outright winner, setting the stage for the penalty shootout. Burke took over the game following Virginia defender Matt Oliver's missed first kick.
"It's definitely not a good feeling," Oliver said. "But one thing we work on is our ability to pick each other up."
Burke was extremely cool under pressure, saving Virginia from elimination with the score at 5-5 before sealing the tie with a spectacular diving save to his left.
"I held my guess to the last minute before diving, and fortunately I went to my left," Burke said. "It's definitely not all guessing but there is a substantial amount of luck involved."
Virginia was helped in the shootout by a vociferous crowd which cheered loudly even as the weather worsened.
"The crowd certainly messed them up," Gelnovatch said. "I was really impressed by the number of kicks New Mexico made."
Virginia now advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since losing 3-0 to Creighton four years ago. The team will play Duke at Klöckner Saturday night.
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