As the fans piled in for the last
home game of the season, the outlook for the evening seemed promising, as the men’s
soccer team once again took the field at Klöckner Stadium on Tuesday, only four
days after a heart wrenching loss against Duke. For the eight Virginia seniors, this was the last home
game of their careers, and their last chance to show the fans that they still
had the fight inside them which gained them so much appreciation from the
crowds in seasons past. Before the game, the senior group received a special
introduction to commemorate the night, but this “Senior Night” was a little
different than those in previous years. This year, a junior was standing in
line with his teammates, knowing it would be his last home game as well.
Tuesday night’s 4-0 win against
Mercer marked the final game for nine Cavaliers, which is a large number for a
soccer team that has 28 men on it’s roster. The departure of junior forward
Yannick Reyering (who is finishing his last year of collegiate eligibility) and the graduation of
goalkeeper Kyle Rudzinski, defenders Matt Williams and Zola Short, midfielders
Dane Murphy, Jeremy Barlow and Will Hall, and of forwards Chris Tierney and
Matt Ayotte, mark the evolution of the Virginia soccer team into a younger one.
It seemed as though when Reyering and all of the seniors left the game on
Tuesday night, they gave way to the new generation of Cavaliers.
As for the game itself, the players
seemed eager to rid their minds of the memory of the Duke game – which they lost
in the last two minutes of double overtime – and they were able to do that
quite quickly. Ross LaBauex scored early on a beautiful goal off the crossbar,
and not even thirty minutes later, LaBauex got his second goal off a perfect
pass from Jonathan Villanueva. Matt Mitchell followed suit, scoring a goal off
of another perfect pass by Villanueva. And, all of this happened while Mercer was
only able to attempt two shots on goal, both stopped by senior goalkeeper Kyle
Rudzinski.
The shutout was finished off by freshman
keeper Dan Louisignau. As time dwindled down, it appeared the game would end
3-0. But, just when the fans and the Wahooligans thought it was over, Nino
DiMaggio sneaked a goal past the Mercer goalkeeper, completing a 4-0 victory
for the Cavaliers. Virginia
coach George Gelnovatch was extremely pleased with the performance of his
Cavaliers.
“Our energy level and togetherness
was as high as it has been all season,” said Gelnovatch. “When you win, you’re
happy, but I feel good about this team right now and it was a great night for
our seniors.”
Gelnovatch could not have said it
better; it was indeed a great night for the seniors, whose careers at Klöckner
Stadium ended on a high note. Virginia is
10-4-2 heading into the last two games of the season, on the road at Maryland and Wake
Forest. None of the goals
from the Mercer victory were scored by seniors, mind you, so keep an eye on the
up-and-coming Cavaliers who will try to fill the voids left by their teammates
next year.
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