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Virginia Battles to 1-1 Stalemate at Wake Forest

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — After a lightning-quick start and an early goal from Reese Miller, the Virginia men’s soccer team (2-2-2, 0-1-1 ACC) drew 1-1 with Wake Forest (2-2-2, 0-0-1 ACC) in a physical ACC contest that featured 10 yellow cards on Friday night (Sept. 13) at Spry Stadium.

Goals (Assist)
6’ Virginia — Miller (Wiese)
70’ Wake Forest — Flax

How it Happened:

  • The Cavaliers roared out of the gate, putting heavy pressure on their opponents and establishing a firm grasp on the possession battle.
  • With just five minutes gone, the Cavaliers capitalized on their strong start as Paul Wiese sent a low cross along the face of goal for Reese Miller to calmly tap into the back of the net and give Virginia a 1-0 advantage.

  • In the 34th minute, Virginia’s Drew Serafino slipped past his defender inside the penalty area but was dragged to the ground from behind, earning a penalty kick for the Cavaliers. Nick Dang’s attempt was saved by Trace Alphin in goal.
  • With just over two minutes to play in the opening half, Wiese played a short corner kick to Danny Mangarov who lifted a cross to the head of Dang. Off a deflection, Kome Ubogu’s chance was broken up on the goal line to keep the Cavalier lead at 1-0 going into halftime.
  • In the final 45 minutes, Virginia was forced to defend in its own end for long stretches, but with physical play, and five second-half saves from Joey Batrouni, the Cavaliers remained resolute in open play.
  • However, with 69 minutes played, Wake Forest broke through off a stunning free kick from 25-yards out as Cooper Flax curled his effort off the left post and in to tie the game at 1-1.

From Head Coach George Gelnovatch:
“We had a really good start scoring the goal and putting a lot of pressure on them, and I look at that whole half as very positive. We drew a penalty and had two scrambles on the goal line. On a better day, one of those goes in and it’s 2-0 at halftime, which makes a big difference. I think we defended for long stretches in the second half—a bit more than I wanted to. The free kick that they scored on was a world-class free kick. There wasn’t much we could do there other than prevent the foul. Overall, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll keep getting better and be ready for the next one.” 

Additional Notes:

  • Joey Batrouni recorded a season-high six saves with five coming in the second half
  • Reese Miller scored his third goal of the season to lead the team
  • Miller’s three goals in 2024 sets a single-season career high
  • Paul Wiese notched his third assist of the season leading UVA in the category
  • With the draw, Virginia is 40-14-9 all-time against Wake Forest and 24-12-7 under George Gelnovatch
  • The match featured 10 yellow cards—seven assessed to UVA and three to Wake Forest
  • Virginia was outshot by a margin of 19-8. Wake Forest put seven shots on frame compared to UVA’s three.
  • Joaquín Brizuela made his first career start and played 46 minutes

Up Next:
The Cavaliers will head west for an ACC clash with California on Friday (Sept. 21) in Berkeley. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX.

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