The No. 11 Virginia men's soccer team failed to impress during its season opener Friday night against West Virginia as it fell, 1-0, and never seriously threatened to score. Tonight, the Cavaliers (0-1, 0-0 ACC) make their home debut against in-state foe Richmond with hopes of cracking both the score sheet and the win column by the final whistle.
Against No. 17 West Virginia (1-0) - an ACC/Big East Challenge game played at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md. - the Cavaliers remained on the defensive throughout the first 45 minutes and eventually conceded a goal just seconds before halftime. A corner kick taken by junior midfielder Shadow Sebele was headed in by junior defender Eric Schoenle, beating freshman goalie Spencer LaCivita to the far post. The goal was well-deserved for the Mountaineers, who outshot Virginia 6-0 during the half.
Already without star senior forward Brian Ownby, who sat out the game with a lingering preseason injury, the Cavaliers lost senior defender Hunter Jumper in the 55th minute when he received his second yellow card of the game. Virginia came closest to leveling the score in the 66th minute when freshman midfielder Eric Bird got his head to a corner kick from junior midfielder Ari Dimas, but the ball rattled off the woodwork.
If any positives can be taken from the defeat, however, one certainly would have to be the strong performance of LaCivita during his first collegiate regular season game. The debutant denied four shots to keep the score close and give his team a chance to find an equalizer, but his efforts ultimately went unrewarded.
Despite the frustration of missing - and losing - the season opener, Ownby alluded to the undeniable team-wide talent and stressed that the youthful squad will mesh into a formidable footballing force in time.
"We're all pretty excited because we have a talented squad," Ownby said. "The freshmen have great personality and they're all really solid soccer players. [They're] integrating really well with everyone so we just have to put in the effort and the technical abilities and the playing will come."
Freshman forward Chris Somerville and freshman defender Kyler Sullivan also cracked the Cavalier starting 11 in their debuts. Coach George Gelnovatch has emphasized the significance of young players stepping in to ensure that the quality of play does not drop off when a key player such as Ownby is unavailable.
The freshmen "have been as good as expected so far," Gelnovatch said before the West Virginia game. "We have one of the best what I call 'reserve teams' in the country, and it's made up mostly of young guys."
Tonight at 7 p.m. in Kl
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