UVA Men’s soccer (4-4-1) continues their 2020-2021 campaign this spring at Klöckner Stadium with a convincing 3-0 win over George Mason University (0-2) Tuesday afternoon.
The Hoos return to action after being knocked out in the semifinals of the ACC tournament to Clemson University and are seeking to prove themselves after a streaky fall. Though, coming into the second half of this season will present a fair share of challenges, as midfielder Bret Halsey and goalkeeper Colin Shutler were both drafted by MLS teams in late January and opted to forgo the spring season.
Fortunately for George Gelnovatch’s squad, redshirt freshman midfielder Nicolas Berghold and goalkeeper Alex Rando stepped up to the plate to secure the win over GMU. Berghold contributed a goal off a well-placed corner kick from sophomore Jeremy Verley in the 34th minute of the match. Rando secured his second clean sheet of his career with the Cavaliers with three saves in the game.
UVA’s first two goals came in the first 11 minutes from sophomores Axel Gunnarsson and Kevin Ogudugu, the first in his career for the Hoos. The first goal came from Gunnarsson after a well-placed pass from Ogudugu found its way past a diving GMU goalkeeper to open up the contest. Three minutes later, Ogudugu would find himself on the receiving end of a perfectly timed pass, this time a long ball from midfield by sophomore center back Andreas Ueland.
The Cavaliers will begin ACC action this Sunday, March 7th against Notre Dame (6-4) at Klöckner Stadium. UVA will be looking for revenge after a fall matchup found them coming up short 2-1 in a 2OT match in South Bend.
