Wahoo Wire

Courtesy of virginiasports.com

The #2 Virginia men’s soccer team secured their place in the College Cup semifinals in Cary, NC with a 3-0 win against defending champions and ACC rivals Maryland on Friday night in Charlottesville.

The turnout for game at Klöckner Stadium was a season-high 4900 with strong support for the Maryland team also present.

The Cavaliers’ starting lineup was unchanged from the one which beat Portland 1-0 in the in the third round of the tournament. A greater worry was trying to finish with eleven players; the two previous games this season against the Terrapins saw a red card for a Virginia player in each.

Virginia’s first goal five minutes into the game came rather fortuitously when Midfielder Neil Barlow’s cross from the left corner of the field deflected off of Maryland defender Taylor Kemp’s foot into the goal. Barlow was credited with the goal, his fifth of the season.

For the rest of the half Virginia seemed to sit back and soak up the pressure from the Maryland offense. Relying on their stellar defense, which has not conceded a goal since October 17, they formed occasional counterattacking moves. The half finished with the Cavaliers outshooting the Terrapins 6 to 5.

In the second half Virginia took control of the game and piled on early pressure to the Maryland defense. They doubled their lead with a headed goal by the team’s leading goal scorer Will Bates from another Barlow cross.  This put Bates’ goal total at 11 for the season and Barlow’s assist total at five.

Cavalier goalkeeper Diego Restrepo’s league-leading goals against average came under pressure in the 66^th minute when a rash challenge in the box led to a penalty for the Terrapins.  However, he managed to save forward Jason Herrick’s tame attempt.

The Cavaliers extended their lead to three goals in the 77^th minute. Jordan Evans, who had barely been on for a minute after substituting for Bates, latched on to a through ball made by forward Tony Tchani, and slotted the ball neatly past Maryland goalkeeper Zac MacMath.

Virginia Coach George Glenovatch credits his team’s outstanding form to the efforts of the entire team. He stated “it’s an outstanding goalkeeper, it’s a great back four but it’s also a great team mentality.”

With the win, Virginia extends it shutout streak to 11 games and Restrepo continues his school record shutout streak of 1,107 minutes and 34 seconds.

Next up, the team will face #3 Wake Forest this Friday at 5 p.m. Going into the game, both teams have similar season records (17-3-3) but Virginia came out on top in both of their previous games this season.