Despite putting forth its most aggressive offensive effort of the season, the No. 22 Virginia men’s soccer team found itself on the losing end Friday in the program’s senior night match against ACC-rival Wake Forest.
The Cavaliers (9-5-1, 3-3-1 ACC) pressed early and often, but could not find the back of the net. After a Wake Forest (9-6-0, 4-3-0) goal in the eighth minute and a red card penalty in the 29th minute that left the Cavaliers a man down, their task became much more difficult.
Virginia evened the game in the 81st minute on a goal by sophomore midfielder Patrick Foss, but the Cavaliers simply could not stop the blistering Demon Deacon attack for a full 90 minutes, as Wake Forest answered with the game-winning goal two minutes later.
“To be down a goal and then go down a man — it’s one thing to if your number’s even, but either way, we’ve got to be more disciplined,” coach George Gelnovatch said.
The Cavaliers pressed from the whistle, but offside penalties — of which they had eight in the match — and saved shots from senior midfielder Eric Bird and senior midfielder Ryan Zinkhan cost Virginia a chance at an early lead.
“The first five minutes of the game we were all over them and we definitely could have been up one or two goals right off the bat,” Foss said.
Instead, the Cavaliers were left wishing they had taken advantage of their very early chances just minutes later.
In the eighth minute, Wake Forest junior forward Michael Gamble sent a cross-field pass that caught the Virginia defense out of position. Junior defender Philip Parker found himself uncovered in the top left corner of the box, sending a bouncing shot that deflected off of the right post into the goal.
Despite Virginia’s defensive miscue, the Cavalier offense hadn’t missed a beat — it just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
Freshman midfielder Jake Rozhansky gave Virginia another good look at the goal in the 17th minute, only to see his shot deflected by Wake Forest sophomore goalkeeper Alec Ferrell and junior midfielder Todd Wharton’s ensuing shot saved.
In the 20th minute, Zinkhan dribbled into the bottom right corner of the box and sent a pass to sophomore forward Nicko Corriveau, who was unable to connect from six-yards out.
The game turned in the 29th minute, however, when a Demon Deacon broke behind the Cavalier defense. To save a one-on-one situation with senior goalkeeper Calle Brown, freshman defender Wesley Suggs tugged down the attacker and drew a red card, leaving Virginia a man down for the final 61 minutes.
“We just can’t expect to play against good teams a man down for that long,” Gelnovatch said.
Virginia took shots in the 56th minute off a Wharton free kick, in the 67th minute off a corner kick and in the 73rd minute on a low line drive from outside the box.
“We can look back at the game and say we could have easily equalized or won the game down a man,” Foss said.
Virginia had crowd-raising moment in transition in the 77th minute when sophomore forward Riggs Lennon darted behind the defense and received a long ball from behind the midfield line. But much to the dismay of the 3,146 in attendance, Ferrell impeded Lennon’s progress just long enough for a defender to deflect Lennon’s shot wide of the goal.
“Riggs had a great chance there,” Foss said. “He was unlucky to not finish it.”
Four minutes later, the Cavaliers found their hero in Foss — who had substituted for junior midfielder Scott Thomsen in the 76th minute — as he sent a wide-open shot from the top-left corner of the box off the far post and into the net to even the game at 1-1.
“I saw an open space, Jake pulled a guy in and was able to slip that ball,” Foss said. “Once that ball is rolling towards me, I’m just thinking — put it on frame, put it on frame. I was happy to see it kiss the post there.”
But it only took two minutes for Wake Forest to regain the lead. The Demon Deacons found themselves with a numbers advantage in the 83st minute, and thanks to a beautiful right-to-left pass from junior midfielder Ricky Greensfelder, freshman midfielder Jon Bakero sent a 15-yard shot from the center of the box into the right side of the net.
“It was just a shame they caught us again quickly in transition to get that second goal,” Gelnovatch said.
The Cavaliers mostly kept possession of the ball in Wake Forest’s end in the waning minutes of the second half, but could never get a shot off for a chance at the equalizer.
Still, Gelnovatch remained upbeat after his team’s second loss in seven games due to his team’s hustle and effort playing down a man for the majority of the match. Virginia players echoed his sentiments and expect to rebound in their final regular season match next week.
“I think this team in particular is a very, very gritty team,” Foss said. “I think there are a lot of positive to be pulled out of this game.”
Virginia will next face North Carolina Saturday in Chapel Hill. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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