Virginia men’s soccer kicked off its season Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) defeated Western Michigan (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MAC) after goals from sophomore forward Leo Afonso and freshman forward Ank Nibogora. The win followed two preseason victories for Virginia against Longwood and Radford.
The Cavaliers went up one man early in the game after Broncos senior midfielder Caden Jackman was issued a red card in the 10th minute. Virginia soon capitalized on the man advantage when Leo Afonso opened scoring in the 28th minute with a header. Freshman defender Paul Wiese and sophomore forward and midfielder Kaya Ignacio combined for two quick passes before Wiese crossed the ball to Afonso, who put it past goalkeeper Lukas Von Lienen. Afonso was named a captain for the team this season and has started the season hot, scoring four goals in the Cavaliers’ two preseason victories.
In the 48th minute, Western Michigan went down two men after graduate defender Philip Smith was issued his second yellow card. Down to only nine players, the Broncos struggled offensively, failing to get a shot on goal until the 51st minute of the match. However, in the 84th minute Western Michigan found new life after a goal from sophomore defender Aidan O’Connor, who scored his first collegiate goal to tie the game at 1-1.
Virginia responded almost immediately to retake the lead in the 88th minute. Following a yellow card on the Broncos, Wiese served the free kick into the box, where it was headed across goal by junior defender Andreas Ueland before being buried into the back of the net by Nibogora. The late goal was the first of Nibogora’s career at Virginia and sealed the 2-1 victory for the Cavaliers.
“It was a good service in the box, good runs and Andreas got his head on it,” Coach George Gelnovatch said. “Good aggressiveness, bodies defensively are tired at that point so if you make good runs and put a good ball in, good things happen. I give Ank a lot of credit, that was his first collegiate goal and it was a game-winner.”
The Cavaliers will look to continue their early season success when they host High Point on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. The match will also be streamed live on ACCNX.
Read More
Elijah Saunders can guide Virginia to victory
By Xander Tilock | 8 hours agoOne of Virginia's rising stars shares his story with The Cavalier Daily.
After striking turnaround, men’s soccer rockets into NCAA Tournament
By Michael Liebermann and Mofeoluwa Akande | 8 hours agoVirginia confronts a tricky draw as it looks to finally turn a high seed into a deep run.
UJC sees “major influx” of cases with 38 adjudicated so far this term
By Ford McCracken | 8 hours agoAlongside an increase in cases, the Committee saw increased interest during recruitment
