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Oct. 13, 2002
CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Virginia men’s soccer team had its three-game winning streak snapped after dropping a 3-2 double overtime decision to the Clemson Tigers in an Atlantic Coast Conference match in front of 2,612 spectators at Historic Riggs Field. UVa, playing in its final road game of the regular season, rallied from two goals down before falling by a goal to the Tigers.
Clemson jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first 31 minutes of the game. The Tigers’ Andre Borges scored in the first minute of play just 58 second into the match. Justin Moore and Steven Rhyne were credited with the assists on Borges’ goal, his third goal of the year. The Tigers’ Dwayne Jones then scored his first goal of his Clemson career at the 30:39 mark with an assist by Kenneth Cutler to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage. Clemson would take its 2-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Trailing 2-0, the Cavaliers got back in the game when Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic) scored his 15th goal of the season from a pass by teammate Ryan Kelly (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) at the 54:34 mark to make it 2-1. Just three minutes later, UVa’s Ryan Gibbs (West Chester, Pa./East) tied the score at 2-2 with his third goal of the season at the 57:34 mark with an assist from Eskandarian. Gibbs’ goal eventually sent the game into overtime.
After playing through a scoreless first overtime period, Clemson’s Dimelon Westfield scored the game-winning goal with 8:32 remaining in the second overtime period to lead #4 Clemson to a 3-2 victory over Virginia. Westfield has now scored 12 goals in seven consecutive matches. Westfield’s game-winning goal at the 101:28 mark was aided by an assist from teammate John Cooper. The goal was Westfield’s 14th of the season.
“I was obviously very proud of the way we came back,” said Clemson Head Coach Trevor Adair. At halftime, I told our players that we will have to weather some storms, and we did in the second half as we had to withstand a lot of pressure. I am happy with the win. We showed a lot of character and we had people to step up because of our injuries. Again we showed characters and fought like Tigers. I am so happy that we adjusted and found a way to win. We dug down deep and found what it took to win.”
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 6-5-0 overall, 1-3 in the ACC. The win improves Clemson’s record to 9-1-1 overall, 2-1 in the conference. The Cavaliers are now 19-18-4 all-time against the Tigers.
Virginia will return to home action on Wednesday, October 16th when UVa hosts the Liberty Flames in a non-conference match. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM and will be played at Kl?ckner Stadium.
Scoring 1 2 1OT 2OT FVirginia (6-5-0, 1-3-0 ACC) 0 2 0 0 2Clemson (9-1-1, 2-1-0 ACC) 2 0 0 1 3
Goals: Clemson 3 - Borges (Moore, Rhyne) @ :58, Jones (Cutler) @ 30:39, Westfield (Cooper) @ 101:28.Virginia 2 - Eskandarian (Kelly) @ 54:34, Gibbs (Eskandarian) @ 57:34.Shots: Virginia 22, Clemson 15.Corner Kicks: Clemson 8, Virginia 6.Saves: Clemson 9, Virginia 3.Fouls: Virginia 26, Clemson 19.Attendance: 2,612.
— UVa —