UVA Men’s Soccer Knocks Off No. 10 North Carolina in Regular Season Finale
A team in form, Virginia is peaking at the right time as they defeated No. 10 North Carolina 1-0 on Senior Night under the lights of Klockner Stadium to claim its fourth straight win and close the regular season with an eight-game unbeaten streak.
The game was looking to be a draw until in the final 15 minutes of the game, when Virginia found a second wind that saw them put North Carolina on the backfoot. Then, a tenacious takeaway by Umberto Pela earned the Cavaliers a corner kick that set up the game-winning goal by Mouhameth Thiam with less than six minutes left in the game.
“Umberto [Pela] does not have to run 40 yards to press that guy if we’re looking for a tie. He presses that guy because we’re going for the win,” said Coach Gelnovatch.
The Tar Heels were on the offensive early, winning a corner kick after a sloppy clearance by the Cavaliers. Minutes later, a loss of possession by Aidan O’Connor awarded North Carolina the ball on the cusp of the 18-yard box, but the Tar Heels were unable to execute as the Virginia defense refused to break, a trend that persisted throughout the game.
In the opening ten minutes, Virginia struggled to find ways past the North Carolina press as the Hoos looked for counter-attacking options to present themselves. One chance for Virginia began with a cross-field pass to Reese Miller, who attempted to pick out a streaking Stephen Annor in the middle, but Annor failed to control it and muster a shot.
Through the opening stages, Virginia was controlling possession but was unable to create enticing chances.
On the other side, David Bercedo found a pocket of space in the middle and fired a shot towards Batrouni after being picked out on a cross. The shot forced Batrouni to make his first save of the night. The chance could have easily given North Carolina the lead if the shot was not mishit.
With 20 minutes left in the first half, Virginia was yet to register a shot, with their minimum amount of attack stemming on the left side between Miller, and Thiam as Annor made runs through the middle.
Two minutes later, Daniel Mangarov made a threading pass to Annor, who was in on goal before his shot was deflected, causing the ball to dribble towards Andrew Cordes, leading to an easy save. The chance sparked confidence in the Hoos, with Daniel Mangarov drawing a yellow card as Riley Thomas attempted to halt another Virginia counterattack.
Then, with eight minutes left in the half, Reese Miller launched a full-field pass to Stephen Annor, who retained possession of it through two North Carolina defenders and was in on goal, but before Annor could fire a shot, the referee blew his whistle for a handball, eliciting a frustrated response from the crowd.
After that, North Carolina responded with amplified pressure, which included three shots, with the second one forcing Batrouni to make a diving save to keep the game level at halftime. At the half, North Carolina outshot Virginia 6-1 and was certainly the more dominant team in the first half of play.
In the second half, Virginia was on the offensive early with a shot from Umberto Pela, but despite the pressure was unable to truly test Cordes in net. As the half continued, neither team could create offense. Coach Gelnovatch subbed in Kome Ubogu for Annor to start the second half, but Ubogu was unable to make an impact. Through 20 minutes, each team only had one second-half shot.
Midfielders Brendan Lambe and Axel Ahlander dribbled the ball up to the North Carolina box on multiple occasions, but the attacks would fizzle out before a shot could be created. On the other side, North Carolina began to induce more pressure with a shot from Sam Williams, forcing a block from Aidan O’Connor.
A few possessions later, Virginia had their best chance of the game up to that point as Ahlander sent Annor with a pass down the left-hand side. With his eyes up, Annor fired a hard low-angle shot with the deflection dropping to Pela whose shot was inches wide of the left post.
In response, North Carolina began to control possession, looking to find the winner, but the Virginia defense, behind a back three of Will Citron, O’Connor, and Austin Rome, refused to break.
“I’m so proud of this performance, we had to defend a lot tonight, and we did it as a team,” said Coach Gelnovatch.
Offensively, Annor and Thiam pushed for the winner for the Hoos in the final 15 minutes with an aggressive press but struggled to create as the clock winded down. Then, with six minutes left in the game, a steal by Pela set up a corner kick for the Cavaliers. Virginia had been pressing for the last few minutes, and it had finally paid off as Virginia had an opportunity to score the winner.
On the ensuing corner, Ahlander whipped it in and saw the ball bounce off the head of Aidan O’Connor, dropping to Thiam. Using his poise, Thiam received the ball with a defender on his back turned and fired the ball into the roof of the net to give Virginia a 1-0 lead with five minutes left to play.
“Going into that last corner kick I had to believe I was going to score,” said Mouhameth Thiam.
In the closing stages, Virginia maintained its intensity, creating a few more chances, but more importantly, allowed no shots in the final minutes to secure the 1-0 victory.
The victory earns Virginia (10-3-3, 5-2-1 ACC) the No. 3 seed and a bye straight to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament as the Hoos will return to action on Sunday, November 5th, at Klockner Stadium.
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