Virginia Suffers 3-1 Loss to Syracuse
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (2-2-0, 0-1-0 ACC) dropped a 3-1 match to Syracuse (3-2-0, 1-0-0 ACC) in its ACC opener on Friday night at Klöckner Stadium. Sophomore forward Leo Afonso scored the lone goal for the Cavaliers in the loss.
GOALS
6’ – SU: Deandre Kerr
19’ – SU: Max Kent (Colin Biros)
23’ – UVA: Leo Afonso (Paul Wiese)
75’ – SU: Kerr (Biros)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Syracuse struck first when Deandre Kerr stole the ball from the Virginia defense and scored.
- The Orange added to its lead with a goal in the 19th minute off a corner kick.
- Freshman defender Paul Wiese played a nice ball ahead to Afonso, who tipped it past the Syracuse goalkeeper to put Virginia on the board in the 23rd minute and cut Syracuse’s lead to 2-1 at the half.
- UVA had several opportunities early in the second half, including back-to-back corner kicks in the 58th minute, but couldn’t convert.
- Syracuse picked off a ball on UVA’s side of the field in the 75th minute and scored to make it a 3-1 final.
MATCH NOTES
- The loss ended a three-game win streak for Virginia in the series.
- Leo Afonso’s goal was his second of the season to tie for the team lead.
- Paul Wiese now has four assists on the season and at least one assist in three matches.
- The defensive trio of Brown, Andreas Ueland, and Oliver Gerbig have played all 360 regular season minutes for the Cavaliers.
FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH
“We made really bad mistakes on the first goal and the third goal. We gifted them and they made us pay. The second goal was a restart and on top of that, give Syracuse credit because they brought a man-to-man quality all over the field and pressure all over the field. That was good and it worked today, especially on the first and third goal. It was us not being smart and their pressure.”
UP NEXT
Virginia will be back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 14 when it hosts UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.