Virginia Suffers 1-0 Defeat to No. 2 Stanford

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In their first meeting as ACC foes, the Virginia men’s soccer team (2-3-3, 0-2-2 ACC) fell to No. 2 Stanford (8-1-1, 3-0-1 ACC) by a score of 1-0 on Friday night (Sept. 27) at a rainy Klöckner Stadium.

Goals (Assist)
74’ Stanford – Zach Bohane (FK)

How it Happened:

• Virginia was forced to defend for much of the first half as Stanford possessed the ball for the majority of the opening 45 minutes. Despite Stanford’s 10 first-half shots, the Cavaliers limited the Cardinal to few dangerous chances.
• With 15 minutes passed, the Cavaliers showed signs of settling into the match themselves as Paul Wiese sparked a dangerous sequence for UVA playing Albin Gashi into the center of the field setting up a chance in transition. Attempts from Luke Burns and Victor Akoum were blocked and lifted high.
• With just under 10 minutes remaining in the opening half, Stanford generated its most dangerous chance of the first 45 as Will Reilly rattled a shot off the crossbar just narrowly missing an opportunity to open the scoring. The teams went into halftime locked at 0-0.
• The Cavaliers proved much more dangerous on the attack from the opening minute of the second half as UVA worked the ball into a dangerous area where Danny Mangarov sent a chance over the bar.
• Minutes later, Stanford threatened again as Dylan Groenveld rung a free header off the crossbar as Virginia narrowly avoided a 1-0 deficit.
• In the 74^th minute the ball fell to Stanford’s Will Reilly who was taken down just outside the penalty area by Gashi. Initially, Gashi was issued a yellow card for his challenge. After video review, the decision was upgraded to a red card for denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity. The Cavaliers would play the remaining 16 minutes with 10 men.
• On the ensuing free kick, Stanford took a 1-0 lead as Zach Bohane put his attempt off the left post and in.
• Despite being down a man, Virginia controlled much of the possession for the remainder of the game but were ultimately unable to find an equalizing goal.

From Head Coach George Gelnovatch:
“In the first half we wanted to have more of the ball. We made adjustments and came out and played an excellent second half. We put ourselves in control of the game and gave ourselves the opportunity to go on to win and be the team to score that goal. We played against an excellent team today. I know this team believes that we can play the entire game like we did in the second half and do well in the second half of this season. Some strange things have happened, and that’s sport. We’ll deal with it and we just keep going.”

Additional Notes:

• Virginia’s Luke Burns and Victor Akoum each made their first career starts
• The Cavaliers fall to 1-3 in the all-time series against Stanford
• Virginia is now 20-22-11 in games against an opponent ranked in the nation’s top-two
• The Cavaliers have conceded just three goals in open play this season, one of which was an own goal
• The Cavaliers were outshot by a margin of 15-9
• Virginia had 47-percent of possession compared to Stanford’s 53-percent
• The game featured eight yellow cards (Stanford 5, UVA 3) and one red card (UVA, Gashi)

Up Next:
The Cavaliers will be back in action on Monday (Sept. 30) when they host UNCG. Kickoff at Klöckner Stadium is set for 7 p.m. on ACCNX.