With one minute left in regulation, sophomore forward Yannick Reyering yelled in frustration as he was fouled at midfield. His ire had been building steadily, when his two golden opportunities one-on-one with American goalie Chris Selak went awry.
Reyering redeemed himself, however, catching a great cross from junior midfielder Chris Tierney in the opening minute of double overtime to give No. 6 Virginia men's soccer a fourth consecutive home overtime victory, this time over the American Eagles 2-1.
"I would have bet the house on the [first two] opportunities that he had," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "I told him you missed those two sitters, but all you need to do is get the game winner and you're a hero. He did."
The Cavaliers dominated the shot category with 24 shots, while the Eagles had only 10. Selak played the game of his career, registering eight saves and keeping Virginia at bay for much of the game.
Things got off to a rocky start for the Cavaliers when Eagle midfielder Lucas Dowiak hit an innocent cross in front of the Virginia goal. Freshman defender Bakare Soumare jumped up to deflect the ball but it hit off awkwardly and past senior goalie Ryan Burke for an own goal in the 27th minute.
"I think it was just sloppy," Gelnovatch said. "I kind of saw it coming because I saw Bakare slapping carelessly and wildly at the ball."
Virginia then had to play catch up and used its speed to its advantage. The Cavaliers pressed hard and got many good opportunities, none of which could be capitalized on until a free kick outside of the box. Junior midfield/forward Nico Colaluca and freshman midfielder Jonathan Villanueva nudged the ball back and forth to give some momentum for senior forward Adam Cristman to rocket a shot over the Eagle wall of defenders and into the back of the net to deadlock the score.
"I think probably five or six games ago, I got a lot more focused, Cristman said. "That's been true to my play. I think I'm playing better and better."
Virginia held the ball for a great deal of the second half and had many dramatic close calls inside the box. The physicality in the second half by both teams also tempered scoring. The two teams combined for 36 fouls, and many hard shoves and holds were let go on both sides.
In the final minutes of regulation, it appeared American actually had the advantage. Eagle forward Larry Mark came off the bench and had the fastest legs on the field.
In the 82nd minute, a deep pass resulted in a foot race between Burke and Mark for the ball. The play left Burke way out of goal, and fortunately for the Cavaliers, the ball deflected harmlessly out of bounds.
"When you don't get that second goal, stuff like that happens," Gelnovatch said. "There is nobody on our schedule that is not good enough."
The Cavaliers had looked to rest up before their clash with the No. 2 Clemson Tigers this weekend, but they will settle for the win.
"A win is a win," Cristman said. "But we need to step it up and finish a few of those chances"
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