Cavaliers Tie Hokies 1-1 in ACC Home Opener
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CHARLOTTESVILLE The No. 4 ranked Virginia men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with No. 16 Virginia Tech Friday night in its ACC home opener. A Klckner Stadium record 7,906 witnessed the intrastate rivals both remain unbeaten in conference play.
“This was a great game in a tremendous atmosphere,” said head coach George Gelnovatch. “Virginia Tech is a good team. They had about a 15-minute stretch in the first half where they put pressure on us and got a goal. I felt that after that, we had taken their best shot and in the second half we were all over them. We got a little unlucky and hit a couple of crossbars that would have finished off the game.”
The Hokies (6-1-2, 1-0-1 ACC) took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute. Robert Edmonds slotted a cross to Stefan Hock, who one-timed in his fourth goal of the season.
In the second half, Virginia (6-1-2, 0-0-2 ACC) put pressure on the Hokies from the start, nearly tying the game in the 59th minute as Yannick Reyering (Mettingen, Germany) hit the crossbar. The Cavaliers leveled the contest in the 70th minute. Ross LaBauex (Chicago, Ill.) was fouled in the box as he was going after a loose ball in the box. Reyering converted the ensuing penalty kick to even the score. It was Reyering’s seventh goal of the season, ranking him second in the ACC.
Both teams had opportunities to grab the victory in the overtime periods. In the first overtime, Reyering had two quality looks, one that fired off the crossbar and one that was forced a difficult save from Hokie goalkeeper Markus Aigner. In the second overtime, the Cavaliers were whistled for a handball in the box in the 109th minute, but Michael Giallombardo (Manalapan, N.J.) made a save on Alexander Baden’s penalty kick to keep the game tied.
The Cavaliers outshot the Hokies 19-12 and had a 17-14 corner kick advantage. Giallombardo made four save for Virginia while Aigner made five saves for Virginia Tech.
The Klckner Stadium attendance record had stood since 1994, when 7,807 fans attended a NCAA Tournament game against James Madison. Last year, Virginia drew 7,428 fans against Clemson.
“I want to thank all our fans for coming out tonight,” said Gelnovatch. “There might have been only two goals, but this game had end-to-end action. Hopefully everyone will come back next week when we play UNC.”
Virginia will be off for over week before returning to action on Saturday, October 6 when it hosts North Carolina. Game time at Klckner Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast online by ACC Select.
#4 Virginia 1, #16 Virginia Tech 1
#16 Virginia Tech (6-1-2, 1-0-1) 1 0 0 0 1
#4 Virginia (6-1-2, 0-0-2) 0 1 0 0 1
Scoring Summary
1. VT. Hock, 4 (Edmans) 34’
2. UVa. Reyering, 7 (penalty kick) 70’
UVa VT
Shots: 19 12
Corners: 17 14
Saves: 4 5
Fouls: 10 19
YC/RC: 2/0 3/0
Weather: 75 degrees, clear
Attendance: 7906