UVA Men's Soccer Cedes Last-Minute Goal, Plays No. 9 JMU to 1-1 Draw

A draw is neither a win nor a loss, but in this case, it certainly feels like a bitter defeat for the Virginia men's soccer team, as just 15 seconds separated the Cavaliers from earning their first top 10 victory of the season.

After scoring a goal within the first five minutes of the match to go up 1-0 on the road at No. 9 James Madison, Virginia defended that lead for almost the full remaining 85 minutes, including the last 10 minutes while down a man due to a red card. With less than 20 seconds left, a failed clear sent the ball right to Rodrigo Robles, who deposited it in the back right corner of the cage for the clutch equalizer.

Never had the home crowd of a top 10 team been so energized by a tie. The Dukes celebrated as the clock reached zero, while the Cavaliers sulked off the pitch following a 1-1 draw with No. 9 JMU on Tuesday night at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg.

As has been the case with many of Virginia's matches this season, this was a very physical and chippy match right from the beginning. The Cavaliers would set the tone with several fouls and the Dukes responded in turn, with UVA getting called for 20 fouls and six yellow cards, while JMU committed 18 fouls and three yellows.

Virginia backed up its hard play with an exquisite offensive play to notch the game's first goal less than five minutes into the match. JMU turned the ball over in UVA's end of the field and Will Citron quickly advanced the ball to midfield on the right boundary to Paul Wiese, who turned and saw Stephen Annor Gyamfi in good position between two JMU defenders. Wiese released a long pass from UVA's side of midfield and Gyamfi ran underneath it perfectly, making contact with his head right at the edge of the box and sending the ball up and over JMU goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon, who could only watch helplessly as the ball bounced into the back of the net on one hop, giving the Cavaliers the early 1-0 lead.

ԀI˥Ⅎ the switch#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/JUESsBeIvT
— Virginia Men's Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) September 12, 2023

That was the second goal of the young career of the freshman Gyamfi, who also had the game-winner in Virginia's 1-0 win over George Mason.

The next several minutes saw the intensity continue to rise, with three yellow cards being issued in the first 12 minutes of play. Even JMU head coach Paul Zazenski was showed a yellow card as he vehemently argued against a replay review of a play in which Gyamfi caught an elbow to the neck in front of the cage.

JMU had several threatening scoring chances in the first half, including a cross which Aidan O'Connor got a foot on and nearly scored an own goal as the ball just barely hopped over the crossbar. On a corner kick shortly after that, JMU's Cameron Arnold had a prime opportunity with a header that hit the near post and bounced away before Holden Brown fell on it. The Dukes outshot the Cavaliers 7-5 in the first half and 12-6 for the match and had an 8-3 advantage in corners.

The second half was more of the same, with James Madison stringing together a seemingly endless stream of scoring chances and UVA using stout and physical defense to weather the storm.

Sloan Parker was issued a yellow card in the 65th minute for unsporting just a couple of minutes after he checked into the match. That ended up being a critical development, as in the 81st minute, Parker was shown another card for unsporting and was sent off the pitch, leaving the Cavaliers down a man for the remaining nine minutes and 45 seconds.

Virginia had already been under siege for the entire game as JMU aggressively hunted an equalizer, but now the pressure ratcheted up even more.

UVA cleared the ball out of its defensive zone with 30 seconds remaining, giving JMU just one final opportunity to bring the score even. Clay Obara released a cross from 10 yards outside the box on the left side and Virginia covered it well, with two defenders converging on the ball. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, those two defenders collided as they reached the ball and Reese Miller's header did not clear the area as intended. Instead, it floated directly to the left foot of Rodrigo Robles, who struck it cleanly out of the air and perfectly placed it past the diving Holden Brown and in the back right corner of the net.

A draw on the road against a top 10 team is hardly a disappointing result under normal circumstances. But since the Cavaliers had fought so hard to protect the lead for the entire match, including the final stretch of play while down a man, yielding a goal with such little time left on the clock makes this outcome quite the gut-punch.

“Obviously we are disappointed not to come away with a win tonight," said Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch. "I thought we played a very good game against a quality opponent on the road. Going down a man with ten minutes to play made things really challenging for us and I thought we defended really well despite that until the final play. We will learn from this experience and be ready to go again Saturday.”

Now 3-2-1 on the season, Virginia returns home for its ACC opener against NC State on Saturday at 7pm at Klockner Stadium.

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