#3 Virginia Men's Soccer Defeats #11 Creighton 3-2, Wins 2001 Maryland/Fila Classic
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Sept. 9, 2001
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The #3 ranked University of Virginia men’s soccer team concluded play in the 2001 Maryland/Fila Classic with a 3-2 victory against the #11 Creighton Bluejays at Ludwig Field on the campus of the University of Maryland. UVa’s Ryan Gibbs broke open a 1-1 tie with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart to lead the Cavaliers to their first ever victory over the Bluejays and to the tournament title.
Virginia took an early 1-0 lead just 5:05 into the match when the Cavaliers’ Ryan Gibbs (West Chester, Pa./East) fired a shot at the Bluejays’ goal, only to have his shot directed into the net by a Creighton defender to put UVa ahead 1-0 on a CU own goal. It was the second goal in the tournament awarded to the Cavaliers as a result of an own goal (UVa was also awarded an own goal score in its 4-2 victory over American on September 7th). Creighton tied the game at 1-1 when Luiz Del Monte gathered a cross from David Wagenfuher off of a free kick and beat Virginia goalkeeper David Comfort (Richmond, Va./Monacan) with a one-timer at the 34:30 mark of the match.
However, UVa’s duo of Gibbs and Kyle Martino (Westport, Conn.Staples) came up huge for the Cavaliers as the two players connected on back-to-back goals for Virginia at 53:46 and 55:41 to make it a 3-1 contest. On the first score, Martino played a ball ahead to Gibbs, who then sped past a Creighton defender and fired a shot from the right wing past CU goalkeeper Mike Gabb to give the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead. Gibbs and Martino hooked-up on nearly the same type of play just 1:55 later, with Gibbs scoring the eventual game-winning goal giving UVa a 3-1 lead.
Creighton cut Virginia’s lead to 3-2 when Mike Tranchilla converted a penalty kick at 67:52, but that would be all the scoring the Bluejays would muster as the Cavaliers held on for the one-goal victory.
With the win, Virginia’s record improves to 3-0-1 overall, while the loss drops Creighton’s record to 2-1-1 on the year. UVa is now 1-1-1 all-time against CU.
The victory gave UVa a 2-0-0 record in the tournament and the Cavaliers claimed the 2001 Maryland/Fila Classic title. Virginia’s Martino was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). UVa’s Gibbs, Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Marshall Leonard Midland, Ga./Shaw) joined Martino on the All-Tournament team.
The Cavaliers will return to home action on Saturday, September 15th when Virginia faces the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in an Atlantic Coast Conference match. The game is UVa’s first conference match of the season. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be played at Kl?ckner Stadium.
Score 1 2 FCreighton (2-1-1) 1 1 2Virginia (3-0-1) 1 2 3
Goals: UVa 3 – Creighton own goal @ 5:05, Gibbs (2) @ 53:46 (Martino), Gibbs @ 55:41 (Martino).CU 2 – Del Monte @ 34:30 (Wagenfuher), Tranchilla @ 67:52 (penalty kick).Shots: UVa 13, CU 6.Corner Kicks: CU 7, UVa 2.Saves: UVa 3, CU 2.Fouls: UVa 39, CU 20.Cautions: UVa 3 – Arena, Leonard, Gelnovatch (coach). CU 1 – Sawarynski.Attendance: 333.
— UVA —