#18 Virginia Men's Soccer Records 4-0 Shutout Victory Over N.C. State

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Sept. 28, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The #18 ranked University of Virginia men’s soccer team recorded a 4-0 shutout victory over the North Carolina State Wolfpack in front of 3,733 spectators at Kl?ckner Stadium this evening. UVa scored three first half goals and added another score in the second period to cruise to its first Atlantic Coast Conference win of the year. Virginia also ended a four-game losing streak with the victory and recorded its first shutout of the year. It was UVa’s first shutout since posting a 1-0 overtime victory over Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament back on November 16, 2001.

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead at the 23:28 mark when Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic) gathered a loose ball in the box off a deflected shot by teammate Rob Wright (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) and stuck it in the N.C. State goal for the first score of the match. Eskandarian added another goal, his tenth of the season, at the 35:47 mark when Jacob LeBlanc (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) sent a cross into the box that Eskandarian chipped into the goal to give Virginia a 2-0 lead. With just 37 seconds remaining in the first half, Wright headed in a corner kick cross from Eskandarian to record his fourth goal of the year to give UVa a 3-0 lead at the 44:33 mark. The Cavaliers took their three goal lead into the locker room at halftime.

Virginia added one more goal in the second period to extend its lead to 4-0 when first-year newcomer Phillip Long (Wilson, N.C./Hunt) scored his first career goal at UVa when first-year teammate Paul Johnson (Princeton, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) sent a cross to Long, who one-timed a shot from 15-yards out. Johnson’s assist was his first collegiate assist as a Cavalier.

UVa goalkeepers David Comfort (Richmond, Va./Monacan) and Brett Mayer-Aschhoff (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle) teamed together to preserve Virginia’s shutout. Comfort gathered three saves and Mayer-Aschhoff pulled in his first career save between the pipers. NCSU’s Mitchell Watson gathered seven saves in the loss.

With the victory, Virginia improves its record to 4-4-0 overall, 1-2-0 in the ACC. With the loss, N.C. State falls to 2-6-0 overall, 0-3-0 in the conference.

An additional note to the game, UVa assistant men’s soccer coach Craig Reynolds was named the AFLAC Assistant Coach of the Year at halftime of the contest.

The Cavaliers will return to action on Wednesday, October 2nd when UVa hosts the Marshall Thundering Herd in a non-conference match. The contest is schedule to begin at 7:00 PM and will be played at Kl?ckner Stadium. The Wolfpack will also return to home action on Wednesday when N.C. State hosts the Radford Highlanders in a non-conference match. The contest is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM and will be played at the Method Road Soccer Stadium.

Scoring					1	2	FN.C. State	(2-6-0, 0-3-0 ACC)		0	0	0#18 Virginia	(4-4-0, 1-2-0 ACC)		3	1	4

Goals: UVa - Eskandarian @ 23:28, Eskandarian @ 35:47 (LeBlanc),Wright @ 44:33 (Eskandarian), Long @ 73:36 (Johnson).NCSU - none.Shots: UVa 21, NCSU 9.Corner Kicks: UVa 5, NCSU 3.Saves: NCSU 7, UVa 4.Fouls: NCSU 23, UVa 20.Cautions: UVa 3 - Eskandarian, Feeney, Hill.NCSU 3 - Branch, Mejia, Fragakis.Attendance: 3,733.

— UVa —