Duke Hands Virginia its First Home Loss of Spring

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (7-6-1, 2-2 ACC Spring) suffered its first loss at Klöckner Stadium this spring after a 3-1 setback against Duke (4-9-2, 2-2-0 ACC Spring) on Saturday (March 28). The three goals were the first conceded by the Cavaliers at home this spring.

Duke freshman Thorleifur Ulfarsson scored all three Blue Devil goals, two in the first half and registered his first career hat trick with a tally in the 68^th minute. All went unassisted and the first year now has four goals in his last two games.

The Cavaliers broke through in the 85^th minute on a goal from Kevin Ogudugu (Oslo, Norway), his third goal of the season and second in the last three games. Nick Berghold (Wingdale, N.Y.)recorded the assist after he ran the ball into the Blue Devils’ box and set up the Ogudugu score from 12 yards out. The assist was Berghold’s second on the year and the redshirt freshman is now second on the team with six points (2g, 2a).

“Obviously a disappointing result,” head coach George Gelnovatch said. “Down 2-0 at the half really affected us. We had a lot of young guys on the field which is understandable and we’re going through a lot of injuries too, but I think everybody is this time of year. It was good to get that goal (at the end) but we needed that much earlier, it sparked us, brought us to life. Scoring goals is tough especially against team that is already up 2-0.”

Ulfarsson put Duke in front in the 11^th minute on a shot that beat Cavalier goalie Alex Rando (New York, N.Y.) to the top right corner of the net. The goal snapped a 375-minute opponent scoreless streak at Klöckner Stadium.

The Cavaliers spent the next 20 minutes controlling most of the match, holding a 4-3 shot advantage over Duke, with three of those shots coming from freshman Kaya Ignacio (Georgetown, Texas). Momentum swung back Duke’s way in the 31st minute when Ulfarsson’s free kick attempt from the top of the box cleared the wall of Cavaliers and was just out of the reach of Rando’s outstretched arms.

Rando played all 90 minutes in goal and made two saves. Virginia outshot Duke 10-6 but only four of their attempts landed on target compared to five by the Blue Devils.

Virginia will finish out its spring season on the road against Louisville (April 2) and Pitt (April 8).

Additional Notes

• Under head coach George Gelnovatch, the Cavaliers are 17-13-3 against Duke.
• The Blue Devils have won the last two meetings against Virginia in Charlottesville.
• Virginia went 6-3 at home this season and 4-1 on its home pitch in five spring matches.