Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
UVA Men's Soccer Stuns No. 3 Syracuse Behind Afonso's Late Goal
The Cavaliers played the final 70 minutes of the match with a man advantage and it took nearly all of that time for the Hoos to find the back of the net. But when they finally did, it was a game-winner that knocked off the No. 3 team in the country.
Leo Afonso scored a brilliant goal with just over five minutes remaining and the Virginia men's soccer team pulled off a stunning upset at No. 3 Syracuse 1-0 on Saturday night.
It was a physical match from start to finish, with the official blowing his whistle after seemingly every play. There were 25 total fouls called, 11 on Virginia and 14 on Syracuse. Six UVA players were given yellow cards, while three Cuse players received yellows.
Syracuse midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski picked up the two most costly fouls of the match, as he received two yellow cards in the first 21:01 of the match, the second resulting in a red card that ejected him from the match, forcing the undefeated Orange to play the rest of the match with only 10 men on the field.
From then on, Virginia was able to utilize that man advantage to control possession and keep constant pressure on the Syracuse defense. UVA put some decent scoring chances together, but was unable to break through. Both Syracuse goalkeeper Russell Shealy and UVA keeper Holden Brown made two saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless heading into halftime. Shealy and Brown finished with three saves apiece.
The Orange gave a great defensive effort to keep the Cavaliers out of the net for as long as they did while down a man. With the time dwindling off the clock, it seemed Cuse was going to salvage a scoreless draw and preserve its perfect record.
Then, in the 85th minute, the Hoos finally broke through. Asparuh Slavov sent a long pass over the top of the defense that hit Leo Afonso in stride on the right wing. Afonso continued his run into the right edge of the box and then made a move on his defender to free up his left foot. Just as two Syracuse defenders were coming over to help, Afonso released a left-footed strike that barely hooked over the outstretched arm of Russell Shealy and into the top left corner of the net.
Syracuse would attempt two more shots in the final five minutes in a desperate attempt to find an equalizer, but neither found its mark as Virginia sealed the upset win and handed the Orange their first loss of the season.
The marquee victory improves UVA to 6-3 on the season and 2-1 in ACC play. Up next, Virginia remains on the road for another ACC matchup at Pittsburgh on Friday night.
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