Virginia Falls to Indiana 1-0 In Sweet Sixteen

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia men’s soccer team (11-4-4) fell to Indiana (15-4-4) by a score of 1-0 in the third round of competition in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 26) at Klöckner Stadium putting an end to the Cavaliers’ tournament run.

Goals (Assists):
11’ Indiana — Oduro (Goumballe)

How it Happened:

• Virginia started the game on the front foot, keeping the ball in Indiana’s end of the field. The Cavaliers threatened to strike within the first five minutes of action when Albin Gashi guided a ball towards goal off the half volley, but his attempt drifted just wide.
• Another warning shot was fired when on a slow build up, Leo Afonso flicked a clever pass into Mouhameth Thiam who rattled his chance off the crossbar.
• The Hoosiers capitalized on the ensuing possession. From a wide position, Maouloune Goumballe picked out the run of Collins Oduro who finished his chance in front of the six-yard box to give Indiana a 1-0 advantage that would be taken into the halftime break.
• Virginia came out firing once again to open the period. Elias Norris made an impressive run inside the penalty area and fired a strike that was stopped by the diving Indiana goalkeeper.
• The Cavaliers were inches away from leveling the score with just over an hour played when Stephen Annor headed a ball towards an empty net, but his attempt was cleared at the line by a sliding Indiana defender. Annor narrowly missed once again when his strike from inside the box was flicked away at the far post.
• UVA put together a flurry of chances in the dying minutes but were ultimately unable to come up with the equalizing goal.

From Head Coach George Gelnovatch:

On the Indiana goal:
“It was a good goal. They are dynamic. They came out and pressed, pressed, pressed and were full of energy and were rewarded with a goal. They got a good goal and caught us on the backside not doing a good job marking. To their credit, they were able to, hold on in the second half. I don’t know how else to say it. They did a good job to close it up and hold on.”

On the progression of the program:
“Last season, we were a top four seed and in my 28 years we’ve done that maybe four or five times. So these past two seasons we’ve been a top four seed and a top seven seed, so we have moved in a pretty good way that way. That’s a pretty good foundation moving forward to set us up for next year.” 

Additional Notes:

• Leo Afonso made his first start since Sept. 12 (at JMU, T, 1-1)
• Virginia trailed in a game for the first time since Oct. 10 (vs Pitt, W, 2-1)
• The loss snaps a 10-game unbeaten streak for the Cavaliers— their last loss came on Sept. 22 (at Notre Dame, L, 1-3)
• Virginia was held scoreless for just the second time in 2023 and for the first time since Sept. 9 (at Duke, 0-2)
• The loss marks the first time in 2023 that the Cavaliers lost a game in which they conceded just one goal
• UVA fell on its home field for just the second time in 2023. Its last home loss came on Aug. 27 (vs LMU, 1-3)
• Virginia falls to 68-35-6 in the NCAA tournament with a 52-20-3 mark at home