Following their heartbreaking defeat against the Fighting Irish on Friday, September 22nd, UVA surely didn’t stay down for long. The Cavaliers bounced back last night at their home, Klöckner Stadium, against East Tennessee State University. Whittling down the ETSU defense, UVA ended the game with a one-point lead to acquire another win for the books.
Having possession of the ball for the majority of the game, the Cavaliers left little offensive chance to Tennessee. The first half ended with a zero on both sides of the board and a stark difference between UVA and ETSU’s shots-on-goal with 4 for the Cavaliers and only 1 for Tennessee. While the defensive abilities of ETSU were strong, UVA managed to sneak a goal past in the last 30 minutes.
Stephen Annor Gyamfri, the ACC named offensive player of the week, was responsible for the Cavalier’s deciding goal of the game with Daniel Mangarov on the assist. The scoring header was made within 24 minutes in the second half and gave UVA the lead for the remainder of the game. This will have been Stephen’s 5th goal of the season and Daniel Mangarov’s 2nd assist, both on Annor’s goals.
With less than 30 minutes left and a score of 1-0 UVA, the plan was for the Cavaliers to play defensively and maintain control of the ball. UVA succeeded in their strategy until the final ten seconds of the game when ETSU was awarded a corner kick. With the clock moving down and suspense building, Tennessee hastily made for the kick, yet couldn’t get a score before the match ended.
At the end of the game, the total shots-on-goal for UVA came to 5 with ETSU having only 2.
In his after-match comments, Coach George Gelnovatch recognized Tennessee’s defensive might and praised his team for the hard work they put in to get past them.
The Cavaliers will play again on Friday, September 29, at home in Charlottesville against the University of Louisville. The Cardinals are looking strong this season with 6 wins and only 1 loss compared to Virginia’s 5 and 3 record so far. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium
We hope to see the bleachers packed full of Hoos!
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