Virginia Battles No. 9 James Madison to 1-1 Draw on the Road

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Virginia men’s soccer team (3-2-1) fought hard in a physical and tightly contested match with No. 9 James Madison (4-0-2). After an equalizing goal from the Dukes in the final minute of play, Virginia was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw Tuesday night (Sept. 12) at Sentara Park.

Goals (Assists):
5’ Virginia — Annor (Wiese, Citron)
89’ JMU — Robles

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Virginia wasted no time taking the attack to the Dukes. With less than five minutes played in the match, Paul Wiese played a long ball from his own half up to Stephen Annor who with a smart header, poked it past the JMU goalkeeper to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 advantage.
• James Madison’s best chance to equalize in the first half came in the 28^th minute when a ball whipped into the box found the foot of Clay Obara who thumped it goalward, but Aidan O’Connor was there to steer it wide.
• In the 33^rd minute of the match, Leo Afonso had a chance to double the Virginia lead as he turned on a ball in space. His attempt was gobbled up by the keeper and Virginia went into the half leading by a margin of just one.
• The Cavaliers took on pressure in the second half as the Dukes took five shots at the Cavalier goal compared to Virginia’s one attempt. However, the Dukes never looked a threat to score until the latest stages of the match.
• In the 81^st minute of play, Parker Sloan was whistled for a foul on the right side of the Virginia penalty area. Sloan was issued his second yellow card of the match putting Virginia down a man with 10 minutes to play.
• The Cavalier defense held strong. Holden Brown snuffed out JMU chances that trickled into the Virginia box, but with under 30 seconds to play, an errant cross to the back post was headed away by the Virginia defense only to find the foot of Rodrigo Robles who finished his chance to make the score 1-1.

ԀI˥Ⅎ the switch#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/JUESsBeIvT

— Virginia Men’s Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) September 12, 2023

FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH
“Obviously we are disappointed not to come away with a win tonight. I thought we played a very good game against a quality opponent on the road. Going down a man with ten minutes to play made things really challenging for us and I thought we defended really well despite that until the final play. We will learn from this experience and be ready to go again Saturday.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Stephen Annor scored his second goal as a Cavalier
• Paul Wiese and Will Citron each tallied their first assists of the season
• Virginia was outshot by James Madison by a margin of 12-6, but both teams managed three shots on frame
• Virginia has held each of its last two opponents to a combined six shots on target
• Each goalkeeper made two saves
• The Cavaliers were issued six yellow cards compared to JMU’s three
• Virginia is now 20-5-3 all-time against James Madison

Up Next:

Virginia is back in action Saturday (Sept. 16) when the Cavaliers welcome NC State to Klöckner Stadium for its ACC home opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.