Virginia Men's Soccer Falls to Syracuse 1-1, 4-3 PKs in ACC Quarterfinal
Against the defending national champions, the Virginia Cavaliers led 1-0 after a goal from Leo Afonso as the Hoos were inching towards an ACC semifinal appearance. With six minutes to go, Mateo Leveque equalized for the Orange to send the game to overtime. In overtime, no goals would be scored, sending the game to penalties where Syracuse would edge Virginia 1-1, 4-3 PKs to eliminate the Hoos from the ACC tournament.
The game opened to a slow start as both teams began to feel each other out. After that, the game entered into a fast-paced counter-attacking style that saw Reese Miller and Stephen Annor make runs in hopes of catching Syracuse off guard.
The first big chance of the game came from Syracuse’s Buster Sjoberg, who was wide open on a corner kick but was unable to execute as his header sailed over the net. On the other side of the field, Annor and Mouhameth Thiam pressed the Syracuse backline while headlining the Virginia attack.
With 20 minutes left in the first half, Thiam dribbled by a defender and picked out a wide-open Paul Wiese in the box whose shot was off target despite being from close range. The chance was Virginia's best of the half but was unable to even test Syracuse’s Jaheim Wickham, a trend that would persist throughout the game.
Five minutes later, Joey Batrouni made two point-blank saves back-to-back, denying Nicholas Kaloukian any chance to give Syracuse the lead. Batrouni, who filled in for the injured Holden Brown midseason, has stepped up and appears to be playing his best soccer at the most integral time of the year.
Late in the first half, Coach Gelnovatch looked to his bench, subbing on Captain Leo Afonso, who was returning from injury and had not played since October 13th against Pittsburgh.
Early into his stint, Afonso drew a foul, setting up an optimal free kick outside the box for the Hoos. From the free kick, Daniel Mangarov tried to pick out Austin Rome, but Wickham snatched the cross out of the air.
With three minutes left in the half, a string of passes from Syracuse down the right-hand side set up a shot from Jeorgio Kocevski that hit the crossbar, causing the fans at Klockner Stadium to hold their breath.
At halftime, Syracuse outshot Virginia 8-3, with three of those shots for the Orange on goal with the possession arrow relatively even, 52% for Syracuse. Through 45 minutes of play, the game was wide open as both teams were still searching for a goal.
To open the second half, Batrouni was forced to make his fourth save of the day while the Hoos struggled to put shots on target. Then, five minutes in, Virginia earned a corner that saw Axel Ahlander’s cross cleared immediately.
Despite the clearance, the ball was put right back into the box and brought down by Afonso. Afonso immediately tried his luck, but the ball slipped to fellow captain Will Citron, who tipped it back to Afonso. After that, Afonso fired the ball into the top left corner to give Virginia a 1-0 lead.
The two captains, Afonso and Citron, in possibly their final game at Klockner Stadium, were giving it their all to put their team in front.
After the goal, Virginia continued to apply pressure rather than sit back. On the defensive side, Aidan O’Connor made multiple clearances and tackles, hindering the Syracuse attacks.
As the clock dwindled, the Orange began to create chances in search of an equalizer. Fifteen minutes after the goal, Syracuse registered two shots, their first since the goal by Virginia, but both were blocked as the Cavaliers were giving it their all.
After that, the pressure began to increase, with Batrouni making his sixth save of the day as Syracuse searched for a game-tying goal with 20 minutes left.
In quick succession, the Orange earned three corner kicks, but Virginia was stout in clearing the danger. With eleven minutes to go, Batrouni made two diving saves after shots, a minute apart, from Lorenzo Boselli, as Syracuse inched closer to an equalizer.
Then, with 6 minutes left, Syracuse broke through after a pass from Boselli found Mateo Leveque, who glanced the shot into the bottom left corner. After 17 shots from the Orange, they had themselves an equalizer to make it 1-1.
After sitting back, Virginia sprung into action by possessing the ball on Syracuse’s side of the field in search of another goal. With less than a minute to go, Daniel Mangarov sent a through ball to Afonso, who was all alone with only the goalkeeper to beat. Despite the chance to give Virginia the win, Afonso’s shot sailed over the goal, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, Syracuse’s Nicholas Kaloukian was the first to fire a shot, forcing Batrouni to make his 12th save of the day. After that, both teams struggled to break through as the game entered the second overtime period 1-1.
In the second overtime period, Syracuse controlled the majority of the possession as the Orange pressured the Hoos while Virginia appeared to be holding on to reach penalties. With six minutes remaining, Daniel Diaz Bonilla fired a curling shot, eliciting another save from Batrouni, whose tally had reached 13, one shy of the Virginia record set by Mark Aronson in 1980.
Then, with less than a minute left, Paul Wiese fired a long cross into the box, but it was not enough, sending the game to penalties.
Before the shootout commenced, fans rushed to the North side of Klockner Stadium. Afonso was the first to step to the spot, rocketing his shot into the top left corner to give Virginia a 1-0 lead. For the Orange, it was Boselli, whose shot was saved by Batrouni before Ahlander buried his penalty, giving Virginia a 2-0 lead.
Next up, it was Josh Belluz for Syracuse who netted his shot to make it 2-1, heading into the third round of penalties. Aidan O’Connor, then stepped to the spot, skying his shot over the goal before Syracuse’s Jeorgio Kocevski leveled the scoring at 2-2.
In the fourth round, Daniel Mangarov buried his shot into the top left corner to give Virginia back the lead. Then, Noah Singleman scored his penalty right down the middle, making it 3-3 heading into the fifth round.
From the spot, Thiam’s shot nailed the left pipe, giving Syracuse a chance to win. After that, Diaz Bonilla fired his shot past Batrouni, giving Syracuse the victory 1-1, 4-3 PKs.
Virginia will await their seeding in the NCAA tournament, which begins on Thursday, November 16th. The bracket will be revealed on Monday, November 13th.
Subscribe to the Cavaliers Now Newsletter to receive UVA sports news in your inbox first thing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated
To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:
Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN