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Nov. 19, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia men’s soccer team made winning look easy, as UVa posted a 5-0 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship in front of 1,215 spectators at Kl?ckner Stadium. Virginia dominated the contest from start to finish en route to shutting out their seventh opponent of the year. The Cavaliers built a 2-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 5-0 victory after outshooting the Mountain Hawks by the count of 30-1.
After missing on several scoring opportunities early on, Virginia netted the first goal of the contest at 34:49 when Ryan Kelly (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) scored the eventual game-winning goal. Kelly gathered a loose ball off a deflection in front of the Lehigh goal, and took a shot from five yards away that beat LU goalkeeper Ryan Grezeszczak to make it a 1-0 UVa lead. The Cavaliers scored just under eight minutes later at 42:26 when Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic) weaved his way through several Mountain Hawk defenders and fired a shot from 15 yards away to give Virginia a 2-0 lead. The Cavaliers took their two-goal lead into halftime.
Eskandarian’s goal, his 16th of the season, tied him with current UVa head coach George Gelnovatch for most goals scored by a freshman in a season at Virginia. The goal also gave him 38 points on the year, breaking Gelnovatch’s former record of 37 points scored by a freshman in a season at UVa.
The Cavaliers picked right up where they left off to start the second half of play by attacking Lehigh for 45 minutes while scoring three more goals. Steve Totten (Allentown, N.J./Peddie) gave Virginia a 3-0 lead when Ryan Gibbs (West Chester, Pa./East) connected with him on a cross, which Totten put in for a Cavalier goal after he fired a shot from 22 yards away at 59:00. UVa keep the pressure on Lehigh and Kelly scored his second goal of the game at 76:07 when he gathered a loose ball and scored on a shot from 12 yards away, giving Virginia a 4-0 advantage. Eric Solomon (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) recorded UVa’s final goal of the contest when he chipped-in a shot at the 83:36 mark, making it a 5-0 game.
With the victory, Virginia improves to 16-5-1 overall, while the loss drops Lehigh’s record to 12-6-3 on the season. UVa will now advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to face St. John’s, who was a 1-0 winner over James Madison in the first round of the tournament. The loss eliminates Lehigh from the tournament.
The Cavalier are now 2-0-0 all-time against the Mountain Hawks.
Virginia will host St. John’s next weekend on either Saturday, November 25th or Sunday, November 26th at Kl?ckner Stadium. Kickoff for the game is yet to be determined.
Scoring 1 2 FLehigh (12-6-3) 0 0 0Virginia (16-5-1) 2 3 5
Goals: UVa 5 – Kelly @ 34:49, Eskandarian @ 42:26, Totten (Gibbs) @ 59:00, Kelly @ 76:07, Solomon @ 83:36, LU 0.
Shots: UVa 30, LU 1.
Corner Kicks: UVa 9, LU 1.
Saves: LU 9, UVa 1.
Fouls: UVa 20, LU 12.
Cautions: UVa 1 (Leonard), LU 0.
Attendance: 1,215.