Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
UVA Men's Soccer Bounces Back With 4-0 Victory Over Rider
To say that the Cavaliers were frustrated with their performance in the season-opener on Thursday would be a massive understatement. UVA failed to find the back of the net for the entirety of regulation and, despite holding a dominant 19-2 advantage in shots, conceded a goal to Xavier in the 85th minute as Virginia suffered a painful 1-0 defeat to open the season.
The Cavaliers had to wait four days to get a chance to wash the taste of that loss out of their mouths, but they took full advantage of that opportunity when it came.
Four different players scored goals in the first half and Virginia cruised to a 4-0 shutout win over Rider for the team's first victory of the season on Monday night at Klockner Stadium.
While the Cavaliers were unable to score in the full 90 minutes against Xavier, it took them only 13 minutes to find the back of the net against Rider on Monday. A heads-up double team by juniors Philip Horton and Daniel Mangarov forced a turnover in the midfield and Mangarov took it the other way, dribbling the ball deep into the box before passing it back to Horton on the left wing. Horton took a left-footed shot that was saved by Rider goalie Guillaume Veinante. The ball bounced back out on the rebound and Mangarov slid to it with his left foot and struck the ball through the legs of a few Rider defenders and into the back right corner of the net for Virginia's first goal of the season.
It was also the first goal in a UVA uniform for Daniel Mangarov, who transferred from UNC Greensboro this offseason. Four minutes later, Mangarov contributed to another Virginia goal as he sent a beautiful left-footed cross off of a free kick into the box, where it was headed in by another transfer, fifth-year Moritz Kappelsberger from Wisconsin.
In the 35th minute, Isaiah Byrd delivered a throw-in to the edge of the box to Leo Afonso, who expertly turned with it and freed himself for a right-footed strike that skipped past the goalkeeper and glanced off the right post and into the goal.
Virginia added a fourth and final goal just before halftime as senior Jeremy Verley took a free kick from just beyond the box that struck the right post and bounced directly to sophomore Kome Ubogu, who tapped the ball in with his right foot to make it 4-0.
For all the offensive fireworks for the Cavaliers in the first half, they seemed to take their foot off the gas after halftime. After outshooting Rider 8-0 in the first half, Virginia did not take a single shot in the second half and Rider turned up the offensive pressure.
The game did not get any less physical, however, as six yellow cards were issued in the second half alone. The last yellow card nearly cost Virginia the shutout, as a foul by Matthew Hunter in the box awarded Rider a penalty kick with less than five minutes to play. Rider's Lenny Cidolit stepped up with a chance to get Rider on the board, but his penalty kick attempt sailed over the crossbar and the shutout was preserved for goalkeeper Holden Brown and the UVA defense.
Virginia (1-1) will look to build off of this win as the team remains at home to take on James Madison on Thursday night at 8pm. The match will serve as the second part of a UVA soccer double-header at Klockner Stadium, as the Virginia women's soccer team also hosts JMU on Thursday at 5pm.
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