If you ask any head coach what part of a game is most important, chances are his answer will be defense. Fortunately for the No. 21 Virginia men’s soccer team, the Cavalier defense has become a strength halfway through the season.
The Virginia defense has come together as a group, and the results speak for themselves. In the team’s last five games, the Cavalier back line has allowed one goal, which came during a 2-1 road victory at Virginia Tech Sept. 26. This span includes shutouts against quality opponents, including N.C. State, Liberty and former No. 12 North Carolina. Furthermore, the only goal that has been allowed in the last five games was an own goal, freshman defender Hunter Jumper said, although the goal was officially credited to Virginia Tech midfielder Scott Dillie.
To say the least, the Virginia back line is beginning to hit its stride of late.
“I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but the last five games we’ve been scored on once,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “And we’re still scoring goals.”
The Cavaliers’ recent defensive success was not entirely expected considering the contributions required from many underclassmen. three freshmen defenders have each started in at least seven games: Howard Turk has started all 10 games, Hunter Jumper has earned nine starts and Shawn Barry has started seven games. These players, although inexperienced, have brought a wealth of talent to the back line. That talent has sustained their buoyancy all season, and now that they have some experience under their belts, their talent has begun to pay dividends.
The lone veteran on the defensive back line is senior defender Matt Poole. Poole has recorded 68 starts over the course of his career — including nine starts this season — and led a 2007 Virginia defense that posted seven shutouts. His experience has helped to guide and balance the inexperience of Virginia’s younger defenders, making his role even more crucial this season.
“He’s making some big saves,” Turk said of Poole. “He’s helping us out a lot, and he’s bailed us out a few times.”
Although three of the four starting defenders are freshmen, a rapport exists among the defenders that allows the group to excel as a collective whole. Without that cohesion and cooperation, Virginia’s defense would not have achieved this much this quickly.
“We started off kind of roughly, but things have been coming together in the last few games,” Turk said. “We feel a lot better about the way we’re playing now.”
Another factor in Virginia’s current outstanding defensive play is junior goalkeeper Michael Giallombardo, who did not start right off the bat. Giallombardo was unable to participate for personal reasons in Virginia’s season-opening tournament, the Virginia Soccer Classic. When the opportunity presented itself to sophomore Dan Louisignau, he made the most of it, allowing just a single goal in a losing effort to St. John’s to open the season, giving him the edge in the goalkeeper competition as he went on to start the first five games. After Louisignau gave up three goals on nine shots in a disappointing 3-1 loss to VCU, however, Giallombardo stepped in as the starter, an opportunity not lost on the junior. Giallombardo has started Virginia’s last five games — all of them wins — and has posted a .923 save percentage.
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