Miller and Brown Lift Virginia Past Pitt and Into ACC Semifinals

Reese Miller has now scored two goals in his first season playing collegiate soccer at Virginia. Coincidentally, both of those goals have come against Pitt and both ended up being game-winners.

Miller scored early in the first half and, thanks to some fantastic goalkeeping from Holden Brown, UVA survived a barrage from the Panthers as No. 3 seed Virginia held off No. 6 Pittsburgh 1-0 on a rainy Sunday night at Klockner Stadium to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Championship.

Back on September 30th, Miller scored the game-winner in what ended up being a 3-1 road victory over then-No. 10 ranked Pittsburgh. In the rematch a little over a month later, the Cavaliers and Panthers didn't quite score as many goals, but the match was no less physical or exciting.

Despite the final score being in favor of the Wahoos, the Panthers had a distinct advantage in terms of shots, shots on goal, and scoring opportunities in general. Pitt outshot UVA 13-8 and had a 9-4 edge in shots on goal.

It started early with Pitt notching three shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of the match. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, Holden Brown was nothing short of phenomenal in cage, saving everything that came his way. A cross from Lucas Rosa in the 13th minute gave the Panthers their first chance of the match, but Brown positioned himself perfectly and collected the shot from Valentin Noel.

The Cavaliers responded right away with some nice offense of their own, as Leo Afonso got back-to-back quality looks. Afonso headed the ball off of a cross from Paul Wiese, but it went over the cage. A minute later, Daniel Mangarov sent a great pass inside the box for Afonso, who had a clean shot from just outside the goal area. But, perhaps due to the wet footing from the rain, Afonso was unable to get a strong foot on his shot, which ended up being a dribbler and a fairly easy save for Pitt goalkeeper Joe van der Sar.

Pitt got another solid chance in the 20th minute as Luca Rosa fired a left-footed strike from just beyond the box. But, Brown was positioned well again and made the save to keep things scoreless.

Virginia countered quickly and moved the ball down towards the penalty area. Some crisp passing gave Daniel Mangarov the window he needed, as he sent a gorgeous ball through the Pitt defensive line. Leo Afonso was on the line but jumped to allow the ball to pass below his feet to Reese Miller streaking untagged towards the left post. It was a tough angle, but Miller perfectly fit his left-footed shot inside the far post to get the Cavaliers on the board.

21' GOALLLLLLLLLL 🚨

The Hoos are off the mark as Reese Miller finishes a beautiful piece of build-up play 🔥

Virginia 1, Pitt 0#GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/DMfhu7sqUP
— Virginia Men's Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) November 6, 2022

Miller will deservedly get the credit for the game-winner, but Holden Brown was the hero of the match, making a season-high nine saves. Naturally, Brown's previous season-high of six saves also came in that match against Pittsburgh back in September. Brown made five saves in the first half, including one from Michael Sullivan midway through the opening period.

Virginia got a little lucky on Pitt's most dangerous chance of the match, as Bertin Jacquesson took a rocket of a shot from well-beyond the box that Brown would have had no chance of saving if it had been just a few inches lower. Instead, the ball struck the crossbar and bounced harmlessly back into play.

Pitt's barrage of shots continued right away coming out of halftime, requiring Brown to make another save and defend against a corner, all within the first three minutes of the second half.

Brown's two most incredible saves came on a single sequence with around 22 minutes left to play. Rodrigo Almeida blasted a shot from the left edge of the box that required a diving effort from Brown to punch it out. Brown had little time to collect himself as the rebound came directly to the foot of Lucas Rosa, who took another hard shot on goal, but Brown was there again to make the save.

Virginia had a few chances to notch an insurance goal in the final ten minutes that would have made the waning moments of the match more comfortable, but the shots from Afonso and Wiese missed the frame.

Brown made his ninth save on a deep shot from Jacquesson with two minutes left. He then secured the shutout and the win by collecting a high cross from Pitt with less than a minute to play.

Virginia will travel to play at No. 2 seed Syracuse on Wednesday at 5pm in the semifinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Championship. UVA defeated then-No. 3 ranked Syracuse 1-0 back on September 24th on a goal by Leo Afonso.

The ACC Championship Game will take place on Sunday, November 13th at noon at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

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