The Virginia men’s soccer team returned to Klöckner Stadium Sunday afternoon for a second round NCAA Tournament matchup against a streaking, defensive-minded St. John’s squad. For the first time since winning the national championship in 2009, the Cavaliers advanced to the tournament’s second weekend by quelling the Red Storm, 2-0, on a sunny yet cold day in Charlottesville.
Junior midfielders Ryan Zinkhan and Eric Bird scored headers off set pieces and eighth-seeded Virginia (11-5-5, 4-3-4 ACC) played 90 minutes of strong defense in front of 627 bundled up, Cavalier fans. The businesslike win against St. John’s (11-7-2, 3-4-2 Big East) earned the Cavaliers another game at Klöckner Stadium, where they are 8-2-2 this year. Virginia will face Big East Tournament champion Marquette next Sunday at 1 p.m.
“I would say today was a professional performance,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “You know, getting that first goal, how we managed the game, playing together, [the] passes we put together, getting the second goal…Everything about it was very methodical and professional.”
Virginia opened the scoring in the 35th minute when freshman defender Patrick Foss lifted a free kick into the right side of the box from about 35 yards out. St. John’s senior goalkeeper Rafael Diaz moved to cover a possible shot, but Bird played a header into the middle of the box for Zinkhan. The forward headed it into the net before the All-Big East Second Team selection could recover.
“[Foss] played a great ball in,” Zinkhan said. “All week we’ve been working on good runs in the box. We all made good runs in the box. Bird did the hard part and landed it off to me, and I just had to finish it off.”
The first-half goal was critical against a stingy Red Storm defense that had allowed only one goal during the team’s most recent four-game win streak. Diaz came into Sunday’s game with a .815 save percentage and .74 goals against average.
“St. John’s, if I’m not mistaken, since 2010, when they score first, they’ve only lost one game,” Gelnovatch said. “So, in this game, [scoring the first goal] just statistically meant a lot for us.”
Virginia struck again in the 64th minute off a corner kick from sophomore defender Scott Thomsen, who found Bird near the far post for a second headed goal. Thomsen led Virginia in assists and minutes played last season, but this year lost playing time in a talented Cavalier backfield. Sunday, he provided the Cavaliers with energy and several well-struck balls after subbing for Foss to begin the second half.
“We felt like just making that change at halftime — just getting some freshness in there — was a good thing, and I think he added a lot to the game,” Gelnovatch said.
The Cavaliers got back in the win column a week after losing to No. 4 Maryland in the ACC Championship game on an 88th minute own-goal. Virginia was sharp from the outset and looked ready to play in warm-ups, when the team was already moving at game-speed.
“One of the things we talked about in the locker room was, [the] first five minutes we wanted to jump at them,” Zinkhan said. “We wanted to send a message…We wanted to start out on our front foot, and I think we did that really well today.”
Junior goalkeeper Calle Brown recorded four saves for Virginia in his fifth career start, and his powerful kicking helped Virginia keep the ball out of its defensive zone in the first half, when the team played against the wind. Senior Kevin McBride and juniors Kyler Sullivan and Matt Brown played all 90 minutes in the Cavalier backfield to help Brown register his fourth career shutout.
Read More
Women’s basketball crushes Bethune-Cookman 82-48
By Victoria Blankenship | 1 hours agoVirginia overcame inefficient shooting early on, ultimately cruising to an easy victory.
Virginia women’s tennis doubles pair wins NCAA Championship
By Gracie Genereux | 2 hours agoThe victory is the first women's doubles championship in program history.
Volleyball sweeps Notre Dame, picks up 10th home win of the season
By Lauren Halak | 4 hours agoVirginia coasted to another ACC victory Sunday afternoon.
