Virginia Men's Soccer Falls to Marshall on Penalty Kicks

The Cavaliers were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday

The 2022 Virginia men's soccer season came to an abrupt and stunning end as the Cavaliers were eliminated from the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship in heartbreaking fashion, falling to Marshall via penalty kick shootout on Sunday afternoon at Klockner Stadium. 

As the No. 4 overall seed in the 48-team field, UVA was considered one of the strong favorites the reach the College Cup. Things seemed to be going according to plan when Philip Horton found the back of the net in the 28th minute. Reese Miller chased down a long pass on the left wing and hurdled a slide tackle attempt by a Marshall defender before crossing the ball into the box. Horton found the cross and perfectly flicked the ball into the back right corner of the net to put the Cavaliers on top. 

Virginia nearly doubled its lead a couple of minutes later as Albin Gashi ripped a blazing shot from outside the box that was just barely knocked away by Marshall goalkeeper Oliver Semmle. At the time, it seemed the Cavaliers would likely run away with this match as they had several dangerous scoring chances. 

But, in the NCAA Tournament, anything can happen. And as it turned out, Horton's goal in the 28th minute would be the only time Virginia would find the back of the net despite attempting 20 shots in the match. 

In the 66th minute, Marshall notched the crucial equalizer. A long cross was headed back towards the center of the box by Matthew Bell. Another Marshall player sent the ball in towards the front of the cage and Ibrahima Diop deflected a shot off the crossbar. The rebound came down right to Bell, who capitalized on the lucky bounce and headed the ball in to tie the match. 

Virginia had a couple of scoring chances to try to retake the lead in regulation, but none found their mark as the match went to overtime. Marshall attempted one shot in each of the two overtime periods, with neither going on cage, while Virginia did not even attempt a shot in the 20 minutes of extra time. 

The match remained tied at 1-1 and went to penalty kicks, which remains the worst possible way to determine a match, especially in postseason play with everything on the line. The not-so-distant memory of UVA's loss to Syracuse in the ACC semifinals via penalty shootout just 11 days prior had to be on the minds of the Cavaliers. And unfortunately, the results were very similar. 

Marshall got off to a great start in the shootout as Danie Mangarov had his attempt saved by Oliver Semmle. Just as Syracuse did back in the ACC semis, Marshall's shooters connected on each of their five attempts, as UVA goalkeeper Holden Brown couldn't quite read their shots. Philip Horton, Axel Ahlander, and Andreas Ueland each converted their shots, but Milo Yosef's conversion on Marshall 5th attempt sealed the match as Marshall took down Virginia. 

The ending to UVA's season can only be described as brutal. The Cavaliers, who were picked to finish last in the ACC Coastal Division, were the surprise story of the ACC this season, turning in a 9-4-3 overall record in the regular season, including a 5-1-2 ACC record, good for the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament. UVA knocked off several ranked opponents and beat Pittsburgh a second time to advance to the ACC semis. The loss to Syracuse hurt, but not nearly as much as this stunning loss to Marshall, spelling a very early end to Virginia's postseason run. 

Still, this was a breakthrough season for George Gelnovatch's Cavaliers, who put the UVA men's soccer program back on the map after a couple of down years. With lots of underclassmen talent on the roster set to return next fall, the future is bright for Virginia men's soccer.

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