Cavaliers Defeat Florida Atlantic 4-2

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CHARLOTTESVILLE The No. 7 ranked Virginia men’s soccer team opened a five-match homestand with a 4-2 victory over Florida Atlantic Tuesday night at Klckner Stadium. With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 8-2-2 on the season.

“This was the start of a five-game homestand and our goal is to win all five, so this was a good start,” said head coach George Gelnovatch. “It was a good mid-week game for us as we got a chance to manage the minutes of many guys and got some other players some experience.”

The Cavaliers opened up a 2-0 lead in the first half. A Florida Atlantic foul just outside the box in the 25th minute set up a free kick, which Jonathan Villanueva (Grand Prairie, Texas) curled into the upper corner for his first goal of the season. Villanueva set up the Cavaliers’ second goal in the 30th minute as his corner kick found the foot of Jason Kim (Irvine, Calif.), who blasted a shot from 15 yards for his first career goal.

In the second half, the Owls (5-7-1) cut the lead in the half on Franz Chevannes’ goal in the 56th minute. After Virginia went up a man following the second yellow card issued to FAU’s Markus Kaercher, Matt Ayotte (Midlothian, Va.) scored a pair of goals in the 69th and 75th minutes for his first career multi-goal game. The Owls’ Liam Ogle completed the scoring in the 82nd minute to make the final score 4-2.

The Cavaliers outshot the Owls 13-5 in the game and had an 9-2 corner kick advantage. Dan Louisignau (Wilmington, Del.) made two saves for Virginia while Phillip Lamarre made one for Florida Atlantic.

Virginia will continue its homestand on Friday as it hosts No. 9 Boston College, who lead the ACC with a 4-0-0 record. Game time is 7 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live online by ACC Select.

#7 Virginia 4, Florida Atlantic 2

Florida Atlantic (5-7-1) 0 2 2
#7 Virginia (8-2-2) 2 2 4

Scoring Summary
1. UVa. Villanueva, 1 (unassisted) 25’
2. UVa. Kim, 1 (Villanueva) 30’
3. FAU. Chevannes, 1 (unassisted) 56’
4. UVa. Ayotte, 2 (Hall) 69’
5. UVa. Ayotte, 3 (unassisted) 75’
6. FAU. Ogle, 3 (unassisted) 82’

UVa FAU
Shots: 13 5
Corners: 9 2
Saves: 2 2
Fouls: 19 24
YC/RC: 3/0 3/1

Weather: 68 degrees, clear
Attendance: 1034