Virginia Takes a Point at California

BERKELEY, Calif. — In the first ACC match between the two programs, the Virginia men’s soccer team (2-2-3, 0-1-2 ACC) salvaged a point from California (3-4-1, 0-2-1 ACC) in a physical battle on Saturday evening (Sept. 21) at Edwards Stadium.  

Goals (Assist)
56’ California — Nishimura 
59’ Virginia — Ubogu (Wiese) 

How it Happened:  

• Both teams came out of the opening kickoff looking to establish a physical tone in a game that featured a total of seven yellow cards and 24 total fouls. The Cavaliers established a slight advantage in the possession battle taking 51-percent of the ball in the first half.  

• After a well-placed through ball into the Virginia box, Joey Batrouni came up with a crucial save from point-blank range to deny a powerful effort midway through the opening 45 minutes.  

• With five minutes remaining in the opening half, Virginia threatened to take a 1-0 lead as Kome Ubogu nearly finished off a ball whipped into the six-yard box by Umberto Pelà.  

• With 55 minutes played in the game, it was California that opened the scoring as Gaku Nishimura hit a deflected shot off the half-volley and rocketed his chance into the roof of the net to give the Golden Bears the lead at 1-0. 

• Just three minutes later, the Cavaliers answered as Wiese lifted a cross into the penalty area for Ubogu who buried his chance to level the game at 1-1.  

• In the final half hour of play, each team created chances to take all of the three points as Luke Burns, David Okorie and Wiese each had chances to net a winner, but neither team could break through as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

From Head Coach George Gelnovatch: 
“I’m proud that our team showed the ability to go down a goal, and come back to earn a result. It’s a tough ACC game in a tough environment on the road. To go down a goal and get a response was good. From that goal, I think we took charge of the game and had chances to win it. It’s frustrating not to get the result, but there is plenty more soccer to be played this season.” 

Additional Notes:  

• Viginia’s road match with Cal marked the first occasion in which a traditional ACC school traveled to face either California or Stanford. 

• The Cavaliers earned a point after going down a goal for the first time this season 

• Virginia recorded a 1-1 draw for the third time this season 

• The Cavaliers have played three road games this season, all three have ended in draws 

• Kome Ubogu scored his second goal of the season and first since Virginia’s season-opening win over Rider (8/22/24) 

• Paul Wiese recorded his fourth assist of the season to lead the team—Wiese has recorded an assist in consecutive games 

• Virginia is 2-1-1 all-time against California and 0-0-1 on the road 

• AJ Smith made his Virginia debut playing 29 minutes as a forward 

Up Next:
Virginia will return home for another ACC contest with Stanford on Friday (Sept. 27). Kickoff at Klöckner Stadium is set for 7 p.m. on The ACC Network.