Cavaliers' Second-Half Surge Falls Short in 2-1 Loss to No. 13 BC
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Despite a big second-half surge, the No. 24 Virginia men’s soccer team could not quite get over the hump in a 2-1 defeat to No. 13 Boston College on Saturday evening at Klöckner Stadium.
After falling behind 2-0 early in the second half, UVa (10-6-1, 3-3-1 ACC) went on the offensive and controlled play for the majority of the half. The Cavaliers out-shot Boston College (12-4-0, 4-3-0) 12-6 in the half and had the ball on the Eagles’ side of the field for most of that span.
Brian Span (So., Somers, N.Y.) scored on a penalty kick in the 70th minute for Virginia’s lone tally of the evening.
The Eagles put just two shots on goal but capitalized with goals on each of them against UVa goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.). BC goalkeeper Justin Luthy made four saves.
UVa out-shot the Eagles 18-12 and took seven corner kicks, while BC recorded three corners. Brian Ownby (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) took nine of the Cavaliers’ shots.
Boston College broke into the scoring column in the 27th minute when Kyle Bekker slipped a great pass through the UVa defense and Kevin Mejia scored to the upper corner from eight yards out for his first goal of the year. The BC goal snapped a string of 319 consecutive scoreless minutes by the Virginia defense.
The Eagles struck on their first opportunity of the second half. Mejia put a ball through the UVa defenders and Diego Medina-Mendez beat a hard-charging LaCivita to the ball just inside the top of the box, then dribbled around LaCivita and fired to the far corner of the open net for the goal.
After coming up empty on several scoring chances, the Cavaliers broke through in the 70th minute. After Span was pulled down in the box by Medina-Mende, Span converted on a penalty kick for his fourth goal of the year.
UVa had more good opportunities in the final 20 minutes, only to come up empty.
Virginia finishes the regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday at home against NC State. UVa will conduct senior night ceremonies prior to the match.