What a difference a week makes. The Virginia men’s soccer team erased its painful memories of its first two games by collecting two victories this weekend.
The Cavaliers left Fairfax Friday night with a thrilling 3-2 double-overtime, come-from-behind victory over George Mason and then blew past Hofstra 4-2 Sunday evening at Klöckner Stadium in a game that saw plenty of action.
Freshman midfielder Tony Tchani scored two first-half goals Sunday, effectively putting Hofstra away early on. Freshman defender Hunter Jumper and sophomore midfielder Jimmy Simpson each added two assists for Virginia. The Cavaliers now stand at 2-2 on the season.
“We created a ton of chances,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “We’re still young and we need to work on finishing our shots.”
Tchani got the game off to a brilliant start for the Cavaliers when his free kick attempt cleverly found its way around a wall of Hofstra defenders and just beat Pride sophomore goalkeeper James Winters to the far left side of the net. Tchani’s goal was the first of his career and gave Virginia a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
Tchani added his second — and Virginia’s second — goal of the game less than five minutes later. Tchani received a pass from Jumper about 12 yards in front of Hofstra’s goal and effortlessly kicked the ball into the far corner of the goal. Simpson assisted on Tchani’s second tally, which put Hofstra in a deep hole early in the contest.
“Tony [Tchani] is a very good player, Gelnovatch said. “He played almost 110 minutes on Friday and he gave us everything he could for 45 minutes tonight. Two goals in 45 minutes are pretty good.”
Throughout the next 10 minutes of action, Hofstra stepped up its pressure on Virginia’s defense and created a few scoring opportunities. Virginia’s backline and sophomore goalkeeper Dan Louisignau, however, were able to deny every opportunity the Pride created. Eventually, however, Hofstra’s continued offensive pressure paid off. With 12 minutes remaining in the opening half Hofstra freshman forward Brett Carrington drilled a shot from the top of the box past Louisignau and into the back of the net. The Pride goal drew Hofstra to within 1, and made the score 2-1 in Virginia’s favor.
Not to be undone, the Cavaliers answered Hofstra’s strike shortly thereafter. With only 7 minutes remaining in the half, Virginia junior forward Matt Mitchell received a long and high arching pass from Jumper, on the far side of the field. Mitchell collected the pass and quickly put the ball past Winters. Mitchell was also assisted by Simpson on the play. The midfielder’s strike put Virginia back on top by two, 3-1, which is where the score stood at halftime.
The second half opened with plenty of action, but few real scoring opportunities. Virginia controlled the ball in its offensive half for the first 15 minutes of the period, but the Cavaliers were unable to put together the necessary ingredients in order to extend their lead. Freshman forward Brian Ownby, in fact, had a golden opportunity in the 57th minute when he got open just long enough to get off a strong shot from the top of the box. Ownby’s attempt, however, flew straight towards Winters and ended up being an easy save.
Virginia kept up its offensive intensity for the next 10 minutes as it continued to hold the ball in its offensive zone. In the 68th minute, junior midfielder Neil Barlow broke free and blasted a shot from 25 yards out. Barlow’s attempted screamed toward Winters but ultimately ended up being another easy save. Barlow’s blistering shot drew applause from the Virginia faithful, but Virginia continued its second-half scoring drought.
After minutes of continued pressure and numerous opportunities, the Cavaliers came away with their fourth goal of the night. The goal came during the 77th minute, when Barlow played a beautiful corner kick right to freshman forward Chris Agorsor. Agorsor, in perfect position, easily headed Barlow’s kick towards the goal, off Winters and into the back of the cage. Agorsor’s goal was his third of the season and gave Virginia a 4-1 lead. Hofstra would add a late goal but was never close to threatening Virginia’s lead.
“As a team we’re building,” an exhausted Agorsor said. “And I feel like I’m fitting in well.”
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