No. 20 UVa Upsets No. 2 Wake Forest, 1-0
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Junior defender Mike Volk’s first career goal as a Cavalier was the difference in the match, as the No. 20 Virginia men’s soccer team upset No. 2 Wake Forest, 1-0, on the road Friday night. The Virginia win snapped a Wake Forest home unbeaten streak of 35 games, and was the first Cavalier victory in Winston-Salem since 2005.
Virginia improved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in ACC play with the win, while Wake Forest’s record dropped to 3-1-1 (1-1 ACC).
“All week we’ve been working on restarts, and we just really felt like we could score on a restart tonight,” Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. “Statistically we won that battle, we out-shot them and out-cornered them. It was a great performance and we feel good about it. Everybody played a part in executing the game plan.”
In front of a crowd of 1,752 at Spry Stadium, the Cavaliers were able to capitalize on a scoring opportunity off of a corner kick in the 24th minute. Neil Barlow (Herndon, Va.) served the ball and Volk fired a shot from close range that trickled over the goal line.
Volk (Bear, Del.) transferred from Rutgers prior to the start of the 2008 season, and scored his first goal and point as a Cavalier in the match. For Barlow, it was his team-high second assist of the year.
Junior goalkeeper Diego Restrepo (West Palm Beach, Fla.) posted the shutout, his second of the year and Virginia’s third. Restrepo had five saves. Tony Tchani (Norfolk, Va.) and Chris Agorsor (Severn, Md.) had three shots apiece to lead UVa’s offensive effort.
The win marked No. 199 for UVa head coach George Gelnovatch, who will go for his 200th-career victory when Virginia returns home on Tuesday, Sept. 22, vs. George Washington.
It was Virginia’s second-straight victory over Wake Forest, as the Wahoos got the best of then-No. 1 Wake Forest at last year’s ACC Tournament, 3-2, in double overtime. In the all-time series with the Demon Deacons, Virginia improved to 32-6-5.
The Cavaliers out-shot the Demon Deacons, 14-13, and held a 8-7 advantage in corner kicks.
Wake Forest goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald had four saves in defeat for the Demon Deacons, while Corben Bone led the team offensively with three shots. It marked the first time Wake Forest had been shut out this season.
Virginia returns to Klöckner Stadium on Tuesday (Sept. 22) when it faces George Washington. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
MATCH NOTES: Mike Volk scored his first career goal (at Virginia) … the game-winning assist was Neil Barlow’s second of the year and the 10th of his career … Jimmy Simpson earned his first start of 2009 … Diego Restrepo totaled a season-high five saves to earn his second complete game shutout … head coach George Gelnovatch improved his career record to 199-77-22, and his record against Wake Forest to 16-4-3.