You could still see the tracks in the grass from the communal knee slide. They remained there, visible and unfading, after the goal and into halftime, until the second half’s frenzy eventually erased them. But No. 13 Virginia will see those tracks in their minds for a lot longer, after the goal that provoked the knee slides proved the decider Sunday in a tense 1-0 loss to Colgate at Klöckner Stadium.
The Cavaliers (1-0-1, 0-0 ACC) dominated the Raiders (1-0-1, 0-0 Patriot League) in every conceivable category but the final score. They ate up 72 percent of the possession. They peppered the opposite goal, blasting 28 shots to Colgate’s three — seven on goal to Colgate’s one. They won eight corners to Colgate’s one.
“Disappointed,” Coach George Gelnovatch said. “Really disappointed. They had one shot on goal. Been a while since I’ve been a part of a game like that. Complete domination, and you end up on the wrong side.”
Colgate rebuffed Virginia early by sitting all the way back, with all 11 players dropping behind the ball, at times almost all the way back to the penalty area. Virginia could not break down that low block, at least not all the way. Opportunities materialized in the first half, the most tantalizing of which happened when junior midfielder Umberto Pela headed the ball nearly between Colgate senior goalkeeper Oliver Townend’s legs. Fifth-year midfielder Daniel Mangarov was particularly lively in the first half and throughout the game, registering a game-leading five shots.
Sophomore midfielder Brendan Lambe recorded an early shot on goal by blasting a shot from distance. It whistled at Townend, swerving a little, but the goalkeeper slapped it away.
“We always have a game like that,” senior defender Paul Wiese said. “Where we have the majority of the ball and can’t find the back of the goal.”
Then came the stunner. Colgate, in a rare moment of possession, darted forward, a few players haphazardly charging forward. One Virginia player failed to step, and another tripped over the ball. It drifted momentarily, in open space, some 25 yards from the goal. Then there went Colgate sophomore midfielder Jack Beerling, sprinting, putting a foot through the ball like he wanted to send it to outer space.
He did not — he beamed it into the bottom left corner instead. Then he went tearing away to the corner of the field in celebration, where he unleashed the knee slide of his life. Two or three of his teammates followed suit. All of them, though, chased Beerling to the corner, whooping and screaming.
“It was a heck of a strike,” Colgate Coach Erik Ronning said.
It was Beerling’s first career goal. It sent the Virginia players ambling, shellshocked, back to their spots for the restart. And it eventually clinched an astonishing victory.
“He’s done it in practice before,” Ronning said of Beerling’s shot. “But in his two years, he hasn’t had a look like that one. But he does have it in him.”
It took just one moment, one goal, well against the run of play, to send the ghost of defeat gliding over Virginia’s shoulder. The specter just kept solidifying, gradually but unmistakably, until the end.
Virginia still launched an onslaught in the second half. Junior midfielder Albin Gashi pummeled a shot wide. Lambe looped a volley over the crossbar. Mangarov chopped one high. The shots came thick and fast, and the feeling sprouted that the goal, before too long, would come.
Virginia won corner after corner, the fans’ feet stomping, the bleachers rattling, only for the ball to eventually squirt away, out of reach. The Cavaliers appealed multiple times for a penalty kick, the referee even going to video assistant review once, but it did not come.
The lifeline for Virginia, when it came, seemed fitting. Senior forward Kome Ubogu, trying to hold up the ball in the box, got scythed down from behind. This time the appeals from the stands hardly began before the referee blew his whistle.
So in the 76th minute, with Virginia desperate for a goal, Ubogo stepped up to the spot, but his penalty smashed into the post. Virginia had let a golden opportunity slip away.
“The soccer gods were with us a little bit on the penalty,” Ronning said.
But one more incredible opportunity manifested. The ball fell to sophomore forward Ignacio Alem less than 10 yards from goal, but Townend readjusted midair and somehow lashed the ball over the goal. This was the last sterling opportunity for the Cavaliers to equalize the score.
The Colgate players massed on the sideline as the end drew nearer, preparing for the celebration — then the buzzer came. They rushed onto the field, whooping and cheering, jumping onto each other. Townend got bowled over by a couple of jubilant teammates.
“They defended like warriors,” Ronning said proudly. “Made a really good play in the first half. Closed out the game pretty well.”
The game marked the second time in four days the Raiders hassled an ACC opponent for an entire game. They lasted 87 minutes Thursday against No. 25 Syracuse, only surrendering the game-winning goal to the Orange with less than three minutes left. They lasted the whole 90 in Charlottesville, handing Virginia a frustrating loss but one that does not necessarily dampen the team’s outlook.
“It’s early in the season,” Wiese said. “A game like this can help us moving forward. Last year, the year before, we always had a game like that, and ended up being a good season.”
The question now is just how good the season will turn out to be. Virginia will continue this process of discovery Thursday at home against St. Joseph’s. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and air on ACC Network Extra.
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