No. 16 Virginia Advances to Quarters in Lopsided Victory

Nov. 1, 2017

Final Stats | 2017 ACC Tournament Bracket | ACC Championship Page

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 16 Virginia (11-3-3) scored four times in the first half on its way to a 4-0 victory over Boston College (6-10-1) in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers advance to play third-seeded Louisville on Sunday (Nov. 5) at 1 p.m.

Virginia, who had been held to just two goals in its final four regular season games, erupted for four goals in the first half of tonight’s match. The Cavaliers four goals matched a season-high and marked the second time this season that they have found the back of the net four times in a half.

Senior Pablo Aguilar (Guatemala City, Guatemala) registered his first multi-goal game of his career after scoring the game’s second goal in the 22nd minute and followed it up with a penalty kick goal in the 31st minute.

“I think all of those goals are the result of the challenges we set for ourselves after the Duke game,” said head coach George Gelnovatch. “We haven’t had the ruthless quality of getting enough bodies in front of the goal that believe that they’re going to score but today we had it.”

The Cavalier scoring spree got off to an unusual start with an own goal in the game’s 10th minute. A miscommunication by a Boston College defender and goalkeeper Antonio Chavez Borrelli allowed for a deflection that was punched into the back of the net. It was the Cavaliers’ first own goal of the season.

Junior Edward Opoku (Millbrook, N.Y.) capped off the Cavalier scoring just before the end of the half with his team-leading, eighth goal of the season. He was the recipient of a beautiful passing sequence that started with a feed from Jean-Christophe Koffi (Potomac, Md.) to Nathaniel Crofts Jr. (Sheffield, England) who then served a perfect ball to the center of the box.

Virginia held a 12-7 edge in shots for the contest including a 9-2 advantage over the first 45 minutes of play. Goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell (Todd, N.C.) made one save in 79 minutes of action. He was relieved by redshirt freshman Colin Shutler (Broadlands, Va.) for the final 11:47 of the match. In his collegiate debut, Shutler made one stop to preserve Virginia’s fifth shutout of the season.

Up Next: The Cavaliers will travel to No. 4 Louisville for a quarterfinal match on Sunday (Nov. 5). The game is slated for a 1 p.m. start and will be aired live on ACC Network Extra.

Additional Notes
-Virginia outscored Boston College 5-0 in two games at Klöckner Stadium this season. The Cavaliers edged the Eagles, 1-0 in a regular season match on Oct. 6
-The Cavaliers move to 4-0 all-time in the First Round of the ACC Tournament.
-Virginia improved to 7-5-2 in 14 games against BC and are 5-2 against the Eagles at home.
-The Cavaliers moved to 10-2-1 at Klöckner Stadium this season, the first 10-win campaign at home since 2013.
-All 22 active players saw action for the Cavaliers.
-Colin Shutler was the first goalkeeper besides Jeff Caldwell to collect minutes since the end of the 2014 season. Caldwell had played every minute of the last 54 games.
-Opoku and Aguilar are now tied for the most career goals (16) among active Cavaliers.