CHARLOTTESVILLE‒ On Tuesday, September 28, the Virginia Men’s Soccer team (3-5-1, 0-3) defeated VCU (5-3-1, 1-1) 3-1 in Klockner Stadium. After going winless in their last six matches, the Cavaliers were finally able to get a win against in-state opponent VCU.
After a slow start to the game for both sides, VCU was able to find the back of the net first in the 39th minute off an unassisted finish by Pablo Varela Fraga into the bottom right corner. The first half was all VCU in this match, with the Rams controlling the majority of possession in the half and having the most dangerous attacking opportunities. The Cavaliers only managed one shot on goal for the first half.
It was not until the second half that the Cavs found their rhythm, beginning to put together fruitful attacks. It was the substitute, Freshman forward Kome Ubogu, who changed the tides for UVA, netting his first goal on the counterattack in the 69th minute with assists coming from Sophomore midfielder Chris Scheipe and Freshman midfielder Erick Kilosho.
Ubogu and the Cavaliers were clearly not satisfied with just tying the game up at one, with the Freshman netting a second just two minutes later, which turned out to be the game-winning goal. The assist on this goal came from another Freshman for the Hoos, forward Ank Nibogora. Yet, Ubogu was not done yet, assisting on the Cavaliers’ third goal from Freshman forward Michael Tsicoulias. Unlike the first half, the second half was dominated by Virginia with the Cavaliers outshooting the Rams 12-6 in this half.
The story of this game for the Cavaliers was their young players. All three goals scored by the team came from Freshman players and all players involved in goals were either Sophomores or Freshmen. While UVA has not had the ideal season, it seems as if they are set up well for the future with a team full of young players ready to contribute. The Cavaliers will try to build on this huge win this Friday, October 1 against Notre Dame (4-4-1, 1-1-1) in South Bend.
