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#4 Seed Virginia Falls To #2 Seed Maryland In ACC Championship Finals, 3-0
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Nov. 17, 2002
Cary, N.C. – The #4 seeded University of Virginia men’s soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision to the #2 seeded Maryland Terrapins in the 2002 ACC Championship Finals through a steady rain in front of 1,822 spectators at the SAS Soccer Stadium. Maryland’s Abe Thompson scored three goals, two resulting from penalty kicks, to lead the Terrapins to the tournament title. The loss marks the fourth consecutive year that UVa has advanced to the ACC Championship before falling in the Finals.
Maryland wasted little time getting on the scoreboard first and took an early 1-0 lead just 4:15 into the match when Domenic Mediate and Scott Buete teamed together with a pair of passes and found Thompson who chipped in a shot from in the box to give the Terrapins a one-goal lead. Maryland would take its 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Terrapins extended their lead to 2-0 at the 57:50 mark when Thompson converted a penalty kick after UVa defender Jonathan Cole was whistled for a hand ball in the box on a Terrapin shot. Maryland’s Thompson his third goal of the match on his second penalty kick, this time at the 80:24 mark, and was awarded the shot after a Terrapin player was taken down in the box by the Cavaliers’ Matt Oliver. Thomson’s third goal (hat trick) of the game was his 14th of the season and his fifth of the tournament.
UVa goalkeeper David Comfort (Richmond, Va./Monacan) made two saves in the loss, while the Terrapins’ Noah Palmer made seven stops in the victory.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 15-6-0 on the year, while the victory improves Maryland’s record to 17-4-0. The Cavaliers are now 25-9-3 all-time in the ACC Championships.
Three UVa players, Alecko Eskandarian, Jacob LeBlanc and Ryan Gibbs, were named to the 2002 ACC All-Tournament team.
UVa will return to action when it competes in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A Men’s Soccer Championship in either the first round (November 22 or 23) or the second round (November 27) of the tournament. The Cavaliers will await their seeding and opponent for the opening rounds when the pairings are announced on Monday, November 18th at 4:30 PM.
Scoring 1 2 F#4 Virginia (15-6-0) 0 0 0#2 Maryland (17-4-0) 1 2 3
Goals: Maryland 3 – Thompson (Buete, Mediate) @ 4:45, Thompson (penalty kick) @ 57:50, Thompson (penalty kick) @ 80:24. Virginia – none.Shots: Virginia 17, Maryland 8.Corner Kicks: Virginia 3, Maryland 1.Saves: Maryland 7, Virginia 2.Fouls: Virginia 23, Maryland 16.Cautions: Virginia 3 – Oliver, Wright, Cole. Maryland 2 – Diaz, Garey.Offsides: Maryland 2, Virginia 0.Attendance: 1,822.
2002 ACC All-Tournament Team
Name SchoolAbe Thompson (MVP) MarylandNino Marcantonio MarylandSeth Stammler MarylandDomenic Mediate MarylandAlecko Eskandarian VirginiaJacob LeBlanc VirginiaRyan Gibbs VirginiaDavid Testo North CarolinaMichael Parkhurst Wake ForestDimelon Westfield ClemsonSteven Rhyne ClemsonMitchell Watson N.C. State
— UVA —