On the heels of Wednesday's 3-0 loss at Maryland, Liberty's Saturday night visit to Charlottesville proved to be just what the doctor ordered for the Virginia men's soccer team. Sophomore midfielder Jeremy Barlow notched two assists, and junior forward Adam Cristman scored his eighth goal of the season as Virginia defeated the Flames 2-0 in front of 1,607 fans at Klöckner Stadium. The No. 2 Cavaliers improved their record to 11-2-2 and now have a week to rest and prepare for their next contest, an Oct. 29 home matchup with No. 13 Virginia Tech.
"I thought we played well," Virginia freshman defender Robby Rogers said. "I think it was actually one of our better wins of the season, because [Liberty] came out on fire, and, for 90 minutes, we neutralized their attack. By the end of the game, we were in complete control."
Coach George Gelnovatch made some slight alterations in Virginia's starting lineup for Saturday's game. Sophomore midfielder Dane Murphy returned to the lineup for the Cavaliers in place of senior midfielder Joe Vide. Sophomore midfielder Nico Colaluca played on the right side of Virginia's midfield diamond rather than at his normal spot in the middle. Rogers made his fourth start of the year in place of sophomore Chris Tierney, who is nursing a tender ankle.
"We were doing a couple of things, trying to experiment tonight," Gelnovatch said. "The main goal was to put Nico [Colaluca] on the right-hand side instead of him being in the middle, where he gets fouled all the time. Tonight there were people to get him out wide, isolate him, get him crosses and put him on the end of chances."
The game was scoreless until the 36th minute. A Barlow shot deflected off Liberty goalkeeper Kevin Mahan to Cristman. Cristman easily sent his six-yard shot past Mahan into the back of the net to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead. The goal ended a five-game scoring drought for Cristman.
"Starting strong was huge for us tonight," junior midfielder Will Hall said. "Once we got that first goal, we felt confident that if we kept moving around, things would open up a little bit."
Liberty midfielder Osei Telesford received his second yellow card of the game with 40:28 left in the second half, when he sent Cristman sprawling to the ground during a battle for a header. Virginia had a one-man advantage for the rest of the game.
The Cavaliers out-shot Liberty 17-3 in the second half. Colaluca's first goal of the season in the 59th minute increased Virginia's lead to 2-0. Colaluca scored the goal off of a long cross pass from Barlow. Barlow's two assists gave him a team-leading nine on the year.
"He's been doing very well," Gelnovatch said of Barlow. "He's a handful for teams to deal with."
Liberty's best opportunity to score came in the 60th minute, when Dan Garber gathered a deflection from Virginia goalkeeper Ryan Burke and sent it back towards the net. Standing just in front of the goal line, sophomore defender Matt Poole blocked Garber's shot and preserved Virginia's 2-0 lead.
Burke made four saves while recording his 10th shutout of the season. Burke needs one more shutout to break the single-season school record.
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