#5 Virginia Men's Soccer Falls To Michigan State In Exhibition Contest, 4-3

Story Links

Aug. 23, 2002

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The fifth-ranked University of Virginia men’s soccer team was dealt a 4-3 loss by the Michigan State Spartans in the second exhibition contest of the 2002 IPFW Soccer Showcase at the Hefner Soccer Fields on the campus of Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) in front of 4,200 spectators. Virginia jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just 17 minutes into the contest and appeared to be headed to its first preseason victory of the 2002 season, but Michigan State quickly responded by scoring four unanswered goals over a 14-minute span en route to a 4-3 victory over the favored Cavaliers.

UVa scored the first goal of the contest and took an early 1-0 lead at the 10:14 mark when Chris Megaloudis (Potomac Falls, Va./Potomac Falls) scored an unassisted goal from just outside the box. Leading 1-0, the Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead seven minutes later when goalkeeper David Comfort (Richmond, Va./Monacan) sent the ball upfield to Ryan Gibbs (West Chester, Pa./East), who dribbled in for a score at the 17:00 mark to give Virginia a two-goal cushion. But UVa’s lead was short-lived, as the Spartans scored the game’s next four goals over the next 20 minutes of play.

After trailing by the score of 2-0 for six minutes, MSU made it a 2-1 contest in the 23rd minute of play when Jeffery Krass scored a goal off of a cross from teammate Jordan Gruber. But Gruber wasn’t done yet, as he scored the contest’s next two goals starting with an unassisted marker five minutes later (28th minute) to tied the game at 2-2. Gruber scored his second goal of the game at 33:35 with another unassisted goal to give Michigan State its first lead of the contest, 3-2. Just under three and a half minutes later, MSU’s Thomas Trivelloni scored the eventual game-winning goal when he converted a cross from teammate Craig Hearn at 37:00. to make it a 4-2 contest.

Trailing by two goals and approaching halftime, Virginia’s Kirk Dinnal (Newton, Mass./Beaver Country Day) ended Michigan State’s streak of four unanswered goals and cut the lead to one when he converted a cross from teammate John Hartman (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) to make it a 4-3 game at 42:25. But that would be all the scoring either team would manage the rest of the way after both teams played through a scoreless second half of play and Michigan State held on for the one-goal victory over the Cavaliers, 4-3.

With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 0-1-0 in the exhibition portion of its schedule. The win improves Michigan State’s record to 1-0-0 in the exhibition season. The Cavaliers will return to action on Sunday, August 25th when Virginia faces Indiana (0-0-1) in the Cavaliers’ second exhibition match of the showcase. The contest is scheduled to begin at 12:00 noon and will be played at the Hefner Soccer Fields at IPFW.

In the first game of the showcase, the #20 Kentucky Wildcats tied #1 Indiana Hoosiers by the score of 1-1.

Scoring             		1   	2  	FMichigan State		4	0	0Virginia    		3	0	0

Goals: MSU - Krass (Gruber) @ 23:00, Gruber @ 28:00, Gruber @ 33:35,Trivelloni (Hearn) @ 37:00.UVa - Megaloudis @ 10:14, Gibbs (Comfort) @ 17:00,Dinnal (Hartman) @ 41:25.Shots: MSU 13, UVa 11.Corner Kicks: UVa 4, MSU 3.Saves: UVa 5, MSU 3.Fouls: UVa 13, MSU 11.Cautions: UVa - Hartman, Megaloudis, Feeney.  MSU - Krass.Attendance:  4,200.

— UVa —