CARY, N.C. -- Virginia's quest for a third consecutive conference title came to an abrupt and shocking halt Wednesday night as the No. 2 seeded Cavaliers fell 4-1 to the No. 7 seeded Clemson Tigers at the ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C.
"Abysmal," Virginia goalkeeper Ryan Burke said tersely when asked to assess the team's performance. "They just capitalized on our many mistakes."
Clemson utilized a well-balanced offensive attack to explode for four second half goals scored by four different players. The Cavaliers had no answer for Clemson forward Dane Richards who accumulated a goal and an assist while weaving in and out of the Virginia defense with ease throughout the evening.
"We know Dane," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "We play forwards as good as or better than him all the team. We just didn't make any plays across the back tonight."
Gelnovatch made some slight adjustments in the starting lineup for the matchup with the Tigers. Junior midfielder Ian Holder made only his sixth start of the year in place of sophomore Jeremy Barlow. Senior midfielder Joe Vide regained his starter's role after coming off the bench in the past three games. Sophomore defender Chris Tierney made his first start since tweaking his ankle against Maryland, pushing fellow sophomore defender Zola Short to the bench.
The first half was rather uneventful as each squad battled to control the tempo of the contest. Richards, Clemson's most lethal offensive threat, seemed on the verge of creating scoring chances on several opportunities but could not convert. With 17:16 remaining in the half, Virginia freshman forward Yannick Reyering was penalized with a yellow card after taking down Clemson defender Nathan Sturgis. For the tenth time this season, the Cavaliers went into the halftime locker room tied 0-0.
"I could already see some lack of concentration at that time," Gelnovatch said. "Our backs were out of whack all night. I thought we could get organized at halftime, but obviously that didn't happen."
Clemson took the lead in the fifth minute of the second half when midfielder Randy Albright sent in a shot from six yards out off a cross from Justin Moore. Only 76 seconds later, the Tigers added to their lead with a goal scored by freshman Ryan Roushandel, whose shot deflected off Burke and into the net.
Five and half minutes later, Reyering cut Clemson's lead in half with a rocket shot off a 30-yard free kick. Reyering leads Virginia with 12 goals this season. The Cavaliers still had hope.
That hope, however, was dashed by Richards in the game's 59th minute when the forward scored an unassisted goal from just over six yards out. Bryson Moore added to Virginia's misery in the 68th minute when he headed in a cross from Richards. This loss marks the first time in the Gelnovatch era that Virginia has not advanced past the first round the ACC Tournament.
"To be honest, that's a statistic I'm not that interested in," Gelnovatch said. "I'm not as concerned with the fact that we lost as much as I am concerned with how we lost."
The Cavaliers now have to wait until Monday's unveiling of the NCAA Tournament brackets to find out where and when they will be playing next.
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