Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
No. 21 UVA Men's Soccer Edged by No. 10 Denver on PK
Taking aim at a third-consecutive victory over a top-10 opponent, the Cavaliers just couldn't find the back of the net, although they came within inches of scoring on multiple occasions. The Pioneers came up with some clutch defensive stops and, behind a penalty kick goal early in the second half, No. 10 Denver defeated No. 21 Virginia men's soccer 1-0 on Tuesday night at Klockner Stadium.
After picking up back-to-back road wins against ACC teams ranked in the top 10, defeating No. 3 Syracuse 1-0 and No. 10 Pittsburgh 3-1 last week, UVA moved into the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2020 at No. 21. The challenges continue for the Cavaliers this week, however, as they hosted No. 10 Denver on Tuesday night and will have another big matchup against No. 2 Duke on Friday.
The first of those big matches did not go so well for Virginia, who, despite, outshooting Denver, 13-6 in the match, failed to breakthrough for a single goal. UVA had a pair of threatening scoring opportunities in the first half, as Leo Afonso fed Daniel Mangarov for a shot that sailed just over the crossbar. Moments later, Albin Gashi delivered a strike from beyond the box that required a diving save from Denver goalkeeper Isaac Nemhe to keep the score tied at 0-0 heading into halftime.
In the 51st minute, Paul Wiese was called for a questionable foul in the box on a slide tackle, which gave the Pioneers a penalty kick. Junior midfielder Lukas Fisher stepped up and buried his attempt in the back left corner of the goal, as the ball went just beyond the outstretched arm of diving UVA goalkeeper Holden Brown, who guessed in the right direction but just barely couldn't get his hand on the shot.
Virginia had several dangerous scoring chances after that, including two shots that made it past Nemhe before a Denver defender blocked it from crossing the goal line at the last moment. A few minutes after Fisher put the Pioneers ahead, Leo Afonso had a great look from inside the box that looked well on its way to finding the back of the net before one of the Pioneers' back-line defenders kicked it out before it reached the goal line. Paul Wiese had a chance as well after that but his shot was blocked on the way in and flew harmlessly out of bounds.
In the 72nd minute, a Denver handball off of a UVA corner gave the Cavaliers a free kick just a few yards outside of the box. Wiese took the free kick but his shot went directly into the wall of defenders in front of him.
Virginia's best chance for an equalizer came in the 80th minute, as a header from Andy Sullins went over the head of Nemhe and appeared to be heading into the net before a Denver defender headed the ball out at the very last moment to keep the Cavaliers off the board and preserve the 1-0 lead.
With the loss, Virginia's three-match winning streak comes to an end and UVA falls to 7-4 overall. Up next, the Cavaliers host No. 2 Duke in a pivotal showdown that will determine first place in the ACC Coastal Division. Virginia faces Duke on Friday night at 7pm at Klockner Stadium.
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