After a long and grueling regular season and a disappointingly short run in the ACC Tournament, the No. 4 Virginia men's soccer team kept its NCAA title hopes alive by beating Bucknell, 4-0, Wednesday. Next up for the Cavaliers are the No. 13 California Golden Bears, with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight of the 2006 College Cup.
Virginia took care of business against Bucknell, overwhelming the Bison and eliciting high praise from the opposition.
Virginia "really took it to us in every phase of the game," Bucknell head coach Brendan Nash said. "We had a pretty good scouting report, but we're watching them play and on film you can't see the poise. You can see they're athletic, but not that they're that much more athletic than we are. Once the game got started it was pretty evident that we were playing a team that was just on another level than we were."
As impressive as Virginia was, the Golden Bears will provide a greater challenge for the Cavaliers, as they are a solid team with a strong record against top competition. This season they beat UCLA twice, outscoring the potent Bruins' offense, 7-2.
California, like Virginia, also received a first round bye in the NCAA tournament and took on the New Mexico Lobos Wednesday. The Lobos had defeated the San Francisco Dons 1-0 last weekend in the first round, but fell to Cal by a 3-1 score, thanks in large part to forward Javier Ayala-Hil, who scored twice before the Lobos notched their lone goal.
Virginia is confident coming off their well-rounded performance against the Bison, a game in which many Cavaliers played well. Goalkeeper Ryan Burke broke Virginia's shutout record with his 28th career clean sheet, and forward Adam Cristman and midfielders Jonathan Villanueva, Ian Holder and Nico Colaluca each contributed goals. Defenders Matt Poole, Lee Sandwina, Zola Short and Matt Williams held Bucknell's offense to just three shots for the entire game.
One noticeable absence from this list is Virginia's statistical leader in goals, assists, points and shots on goal. Sophomore forward Yannick Reyering had an assist on Villanueva's goal and will look to revert to his regular season form tomorrow.
"Our leading scorer didn't score tonight," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said after the game against Bucknell. "He played very well and created chances for himself but it just wasn't his night. When he came off the field I told him, 'Save it for Saturday.'"
Reyering didn't have to do all the work, though, and for the first time all season at least three other Cavaliers each scored a goal. Another of Virginia's stars, Colaluca -- the only Cavalier to make the All-ACC first team this season -- contributed a goal and impressed his coach with his resiliency.
"It's great to have Nico back," Gelnovatch said. "He was out for a week with a concussion. It felt great to get him back out there and get him some rhythm. I think the whole game gives us a shot of confidence."
Colaluca himself, though, is not overly concerned with Wednesday's statistics.
"Yeah, we scored three goals in the first half, the first time all season we've done that," Colaluca said. "We looked great tonight, but we have a game Saturday and we have to prepare well. This game won't mean a thing if we don't win Saturday."
Saturday's game is Virginia's biggest of the season, as will be the case with every game the rest of the way. The Cavaliers and Golden Bears square off at 7 p.m. under the lights at Klöckner Stadium. The victor will play the winner of the No. 12 Notre Dame versus No 5. Maryland match. That game is scheduled for Saturday night at 6 p.m. in College Park.
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