As Sunday's game entered the final minutes of regulation, it looked as if the Virginia men's soccer team was going to have to play its third overtime contest in four games. The Cavaliers had played a stellar game defensively but had missed converting on several promising scoring opportunities.
Freshman forward Yannick Reyering had a shot blocked on a breakaway and tripped while receiving a pass in the box from senior Adam Cristman. With 2:55 remaining in regulation, however, the opportunistic freshman redeemed himself by scoring his 10th goal of the year and leading No. 4 Virginia to a 1-0 victory over No. 10 Duke.
"I was a little frustrated, but me and Adam [Cristman] kept going and going and pushing and pushing," Reyering said. "We knew that we were going to score, and we finally did."
Reyering's game-winning goal was set up by Cristman, who dribbled into the box and was taken down by two Duke defenders. It looked as if Cristman should have been awarded a penalty kick, but the referee did not blow his whistle. Reyering saw his opportunity and pounced.
"It was kind of a weird goal," Reyering said. "When Adam got blocked I was screaming 'Penalty kick, penalty kick.' Then I saw the ball was open, took it and saw that the left part of the goal was open."
What made the goal even more special for Reyering was it came in front of a crowd that included his family from Germany.
"I was really looking forward to this game because my family came over from Germany," he said. "I'm so happy that I scored the winning goal."
Virginia (10-1-2, 5-0 ACC) had a one-man advantage for the final 24 minutes of the game, thanks to a red card awarded to Duke forward Spencer Wadsworth. Wadsworth lost his cool during a confrontation with sophomore midfielder Nico Colaluca just outside the top of the box in front of Virginia's goal.
"We got tangled up, and the ref called a foul on me," Colaluca said. "But after the play, he [Wadsworth] just came through and hit me right in my face with his fist."
Duke out-shot Virginia 11-9 but only had one excellent scoring chance when midfielder Michael Videira's shot hit off the top of the crossbar. Virginia coach George Gelnovatch was extremely pleased with Virginia's overall performance.
"[It was a game] we deserved to win," he said. "It was arguably one of our best performances start to finish. I felt very good about the way we were playing from top to bottom. We really did a solid job."
In the 15th minute of play, Duke goalkeeper Justin Papadakis saved a Reyering breakaway shot. Less than a minute later, Cristman brought the ball forward on his own breakaway chance and passed it to a streaking Reyering. Reyering, however, tripped over the ball and was unable to get a shot off.
"He had a few looks where he usually converts," Gelnovatch said. "But he is very steady mentally. He doesn't get all out of whack or down on himself. I knew that the next good chance that he got, he would score."
The victory was even sweeter for Virginia because it was over arch-rival Duke (8-3-1, 2-2-1 ACC). The Blue Devils' lineup featured many of the same players who had eliminated Virginia from last year's NCAA Tournament.
"We have a great rivalry with Duke," Colaluca said. "They knocked us out of the tournament and were celebrating on our field last December. We wanted to come out, play hard and give it to them, which is what we did."
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