Sophomore Jonathan Villanueva capitalized on two Cavalier set pieces last night to give the Virginia men's soccer team an early 2-0 lead against Florida Atlantic.
In the Cavaliers' 4-2 victory, the preseason Soccer America All-American notched one goal and one assist. Taking a free kick just outside the 18-yard line, Villanueva sent a ball sailing into the upper left corner of the Florida Atlantic net. It was his first goal of the season.
"It has been a long time coming, a long season, but it feels good to finally get a goal," Villanueva said. "It has been a tough season transitioning from different formations, but I think I have finally caught my stride a little bit. I am hoping to stay in the lineup for the rest of the season and try and get some more goals."
Barely five minutes later, Villanueva put a corner kick at the feet of midfielder Jason Kim and watched the freshman score his first career goal."I always try to give 110 percent and I just had to give my best, and a goal is the best for me," Kim said. "Ross [LaBauex] shielded the guy for me so the ball could land in front of me; I shot and it went in. I am very happy with that."
The game remained scoreless for the rest of the half but became increasingly physical as the Owls took out their frustrations on the Cavaliers. Virginia, however, refused to be manhandled. Including Florida Atlantic midfielder Markus Kaercher's yellow card, the Owls recorded 10 first-half fouls while the Cavaliers tallied nine.
Indeed, having just played Clemson, a team known for its physical and scrappy play, the Cavalier squad (8-2-2, 1-1-2 ACC) could not help but feel a twinge of déjà vu.
"There were similarities to the [Clemson] game in terms of playing against a team that was very disruptive, very combative," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "And I think those games always kind of help you a little bit as long as you get out of them healthy."
When Florida Atlantic coach Kos Donev made a defensive substitution at the half, it is unlikely he expected senior Franz Chevannes to put the Owls on the board. Nevertheless, in the 55th minute the defender notched his first goal of the season on a 30-yard blast past Cavalier freshman goalkeeper Dan Louisignau.
Senior forward Matt Ayotte then retaliated not once, but twice for Virginia as he knocked in a through ball and then capitalized on a fast break to give the Cavaliers their third and fourth goals of the game.
The scoring, however, could not keep pace with the fouling. Florida Atlantic (5-7-1) fouled Virginia an additional 14 times in the second half and Kaercher, having received his second cautionary warning of the night, was sent off in the 61st minute.
"It was a lot of fouls, a lot of cards," Villanueva said. "It was actually helpful to have played Clemson because they were pretty similar teams that way. We weren't really expecting them to come out and play as well as they did tonight; it was tough for us all the way until the end."
Virginia also had its fair share of fouls, committing 19 overall and receiving three yellow cards. When faced with a rough team, however, the Cavaliers have learned that while employing their own possession stye of play is preferable, sometimes fire must be fought with fire.
"We have a five-game homestand, and the goal is to win all five of them so this is a good start from that end," Gelnovatch said. "The game was a little rougher -- I just looked at the stats -- 24 fouls and a red card. You normally want to try and avoid those midweek battles, but we got through it OK."
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