No. 18 Virginia Falls To St. John's, 1-0

CHARLOTTESVILLE St. John’s forward Adam Himeno scored the game’s only goal in the 33rd minute and the Red Storm held on to defeat No. 18 Virginia, 1-0, Friday night at Klckner Stadium in the Virginia Soccer Classic.

Virginia (0-1-0) created scoring opportunities throughout the game, out-shooting St. John’s 17-7 and holding an 8-1 advantage on corner kicks. Freshman Brian Ownby registered two shots on goal, including one in the 88th minute that was stopped by St. John’s goalkeeper Neal Kitson.

Kitson finished with seven saves for the shutout, as he stopped all of the Cavaliers’ shots on goal.

“We created good chances to win the game,” Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. “It’s tough when you give up the first goal but I’m relatively pleased with how this young team performed.”

Virginia controlled much of the opening minutes, as Kitson was tested but made saves on shots by Chris Agorsor, Ross LaBauex and Tony Tchani. St. John’s capitalized on its scoring opportunity, however, as Himeno finished a pass from Tafadzwa Chiduku into the upper part of the net.

Dan Louisignau got the start in goal for UVa, and finished with three saves in defeat.

In the earlier game of the Virginia Soccer Classic, No. 14 SMU topped Old Dominion, 2-0, on goals by Arthur Ivo and Manuel Mariel.

Virginia returns to Klckner Stadium to wrap up action at the Virginia Soccer Classic on Sunday. The Cavaliers face SMU at 8 p.m., while Old Dominion and St. John’s will square off at 2:30 p.m.