The Virginia men's soccer team found its groove again last night. Cruising to a 3-0 win against Liberty (8-4-2), the No. 10 Cavaliers (9-3-2) survived another mid-week, non-conference game and now prepare for a bitter ACC matchup Friday against Duke.
Simple adjustments in the two days of practice since the Boston College loss made all the difference. The defense looked organized and the midfield controlled the ball better, giving junior forward Yannick Reyering more opportunities to score, which he took full advantage of. Reyering recorded three goals within the first 70 minutes of the game, netting his 12th goal of the season and the first hat trick of his career.
"Obviously I am happy with the win ... We wanted to get back on track and come out hard to dictate this game and we did a good job at that," Reyering said.
Virginia coach George Gelnovatch was equally pleased with the performance.
"I think we played well; we managed the tempo of the game and we were able to absorb their pressure," Gelnovatch said, indicating a clear difference in the level of intensity since Saturday. "We possessed the ball when we needed to control the tempo and when we went forward, we were dangerous."
Although senior midfielder Jeremy Barlow was again missing from the field, the Cavaliers were able to adapt their play without losing focus, unlike Saturday's match when Barlow left in the fourth minute and the entire midfield collapsed, resulting in the loss of ball control. By last night, Gelnovatch had restructured the midfield, which helped move the ball around, enabling sophomore forward Ross LaBauex and Reyering to get shots on goal.
Senior midfielder Dane Murphy said the team switched formation, playing four men in the midfield, giving freshman Jason Kim more room "to roam, get open and look for goals."
The new formation seemed to fill the hole in the midfield that was left by Barlow.
"I think Saturday was lacking in intensity -- it was like we didn't want to win; we weren't trying to win; and we weren't fighting," Murphy said. "Tonight we came out with good team morale; we didn't have our heads down; and we were playing together. And I think that is what made the difference."
After the loss Saturday, Gelnovatch expressed his displeasure about players' lack of intensity. Last night, the Cavaliers improved upon the mental mistakes that cost them two goals against Boston College.
"We had two errors against a good team," junior Matt Poole said. "We can't make that big mistake; we need to keep it small."
Senior center back Zola Short and Poole took charge of the defense, making sure Liberty forwards were closely marked. Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Giallombardo remained focused throughout the game and made several good saves, leading to his first shutout since the Mount St. Mary's game in September.
Overall, the team played much better than it did Saturday. The Cavaliers controlled the tempo of the game and played like they wanted to win.
Virginia will look to keep that momentum when it hosts Duke Friday at 7 p.m. in what is shaping up to be a challenging ACC fight.
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