Playing at home for the first time in 15 days, the No. 10 Virginia men's soccer team came out flat Tuesday and dropped a 2-0 result against upset-minded Liberty. The Cavaliers (4-2-0) were unable to keep pace in a game which featured its share of physical play and a team from a lower-tier conference eager to prove itself against a national powerhouse.
"The Tuesday night games are really tough for us because when teams come play us on Tuesday night this is their World Cup," senior defender Hunter Jumper said. "It's a good excuse ... but they were firing on all cylinders, and our team chemistry just wasn't there tonight."
The Flames (3-1-0) picked up their first-ever win against Virginia by playing the Cavaliers even during the first half before pulling away in the second.
"Liberty deserved to win," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "They're a very good team. That's the best Liberty team we've played in my 16 seasons. They have three or four extremely talented players."
The play in the first half was largely uneventful as the sides struggled to hold possession and the ball remained stuck in the midfield. Neither team elicited much anxiety from the opposing defense, though the Cavaliers managed a seven to three advantage in shots. Their inability to put those shots on target, however, meant that Liberty freshman goalkeeper Josh Pacella did not have to make a save during the opening half.
Virginia's best scoring opportunity of the half came in the 34th minute when junior forward Will Bates broke past the last line of Liberty's defense with a well-timed run. With only the keeper to beat, Bates shot the ball wide as he tried to curl it toward the far post.
Virginia's defense held firm and freshman goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita was hardly tested. LaCivita made a nifty foot save in the 14th minute and calmly smothered a threatening cross five minutes later. LaCivita factored into the action more after halftime.
One of the most significant players during the first half was not wearing a Virginia or Liberty jersey, but was rather the referee in yellow. Trying to keep control of a physical battle, the official earned plenty of gripes from both teams for ticky-tack fouls and no-calls alike.
The most controversial call came when Jumper slid for a hard tackle in Virginia's end and won the ball but earned a yellow card for his efforts. Junior midfielder Ari Dimas pleaded his teammate's case, continuing to show his frustration after being called for a cheap foul earlier.
After the intermission, the uneven play continued until the Flames finally opened the scoring during the 72nd minute. After surviving several close encounters, LaCivita was unable to bail out his defense when senior defender Chris Phillips struck a header from inside the 6-yard box on a corner kick. A breakdown in Virginia's marking allowed the Flames to capitalize on their efforts.
Looking for a spark to ignite the sluggish offense, Gelnovatch had called upon a pair of substitutes minutes prior. Freshman forward Ryan Zinkhan nearly made an immediate impact when he blocked a Liberty clearing attempt and pushed the ball ahead to senior forward Brian Ownby, but Ownby could not convert the opportunity.
Playing without redshirt senior defender Greg Monaco, the Virginia defense revealed its youth as Liberty continued to break down the Cavaliers during the late stages of the game.
Following the first goal, Virginia tried to pick up its level of urgency, but the Flames countered quickly to squash any hopes of a comeback. The threat began when senior forward Timothy Bullock took a pass, turned on his defender and touched the ball around LaCivita to clear the middle of the goal area for senior midfielder Phillip Aseweh who buried his shot into a wide-open net.
"They've got some tricky players up top," LaCivita said. "They've got some fast players that make quick movements off the ball and their guys slipped in one or two more times than [I would have] liked and eventually it ended up costing us ... We were on our back foot for part of that second half."
Despite the disappointing performance, Gelnovatch had no complaints about his players' effort. Instead, he gave the Flames credit for outplaying his team and said the Cavaliers will have to regroup before their next game Friday.
"We played hard, and [Liberty] was just better, especially in that second half," Gelnovatch said.
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