No. 4 Virginia Earns 2-1 Victory Over Liberty

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – No. 4 Virginia defeated Liberty, 2-1, Tuesday night in men’s soccer action at Klöckner Stadium. Ari Dimas (Chesapeake, Va.) converted a penalty kick in the 81st minute that was the difference in the match.

With the win, Virginia improved to 7-2-1 and stretched its unbeaten streak against non-conference opponents to 18 games. Liberty’s record went to 6-3-1.

“Liberty is a very good team with a couple of excellent players,” UVa head coach George Gelnovatch said. “They always play us hard and we have a lot of respect for them. In the second half, we could have gone up by two goals, so I credit them for getting the equalizer. And I credit us for responding.”

The Cavaliers scored early in the first half off of a corner kick taken by Dimas. Brian Ownby (Glen Allen, Va.) got contact on the service from the right side and scored his third goal of the year. It was Dimas’ team-high third assist of the year.

Trailing 1-0, Liberty scored its goal in the 55th minute. Darren Amoo passed the ball to Alex Verville, who was in a one-on-one situation with UVa goalkeeper Diego Restrepo (West Palm Beach, Fla). He fired a shot into the upper-right corner of the net. It was Verville’s second goal of the year and tied the game at 1-1.

Virginia’s T.J. Cyrus entered the game as a substitution in the 66th minute and had a shot that was blocked by a Liberty defender in the 81st minute. The result of that blocked shot was a handball in the penalty box called on Liberty. Virginia was awarded a penalty kick for the infraction.

Dimas converted the penalty kick for his second goal of the season. Virginia withstood a flurry of Liberty shots in the last five minutes to earn the 2-1 victory.

Restrepo had three saves for Virginia, including a diving save to the near post on a header by Chris Osborne late in the match.

In goal for Liberty, Paul Gilbert had two saves in defeat.

Virginia improved to 18-0-1 in the all-time series with Liberty. The Cavaliers have not been defeated by a non-conference opponent since the 2008 NCAA Tournament (Connecticut).

Up next, Virginia hosts Alabama A&M on Saturday (Oct. 9). Kick-off from Klöckner Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.

No. 4 Virginia 2, Liberty 1
#4 Virginia (7-2-1, 1-2-1 ACC) 1 1 – 2
Liberty (6-3-1, 2-1 Big South) 0 1 – 1

Scoring Summary:
UVa. Brian Ownby 3 (Ari Dimas 3) 5′
Liberty Alex Verville 2 (Darren Amoo 2) 56′
UVa. Ari Dimas 2 (penalty kick) 81′

Shots: UVa 17, Liberty 9
Corners: UVa 9, Liberty 3
Saves: UVa 3 (Restrepo 3), Liberty 2 (Gilbert 2)
Fouls: UVa 8, Liberty 9
Offsides: UVa 2, Liberty 0

Attendance: 1023