Virginia Men's Soccer Season Ends in 1-0 Loss to Indiana in Round of 16

The No. 7-seed Cavaliers dropped their first game since September 22nd, failing to score just the second time all year

In the NCAA third round, Virginia fell to Indiana 1-0 at Klockner Stadium, putting an end to the Cavaliers' season. Collins Oduro scored a goal early in the first half that would end up serving as the game-winner as Virginia failed to score for the second time this season. 

In the opening five minutes, Virginia engulfed Indiana with heavy pressure, creating an early corner. In response, Indiana fired back with counter-attacks but registered no shots. 

Leo Afonso led the charge for the Hoos at the front, returning to the starting lineup over Stephen Annor. Ten minutes into the game, Afonso and Mouhameth Thiam played a give-and-go, resulting in a shot from Thiam that bounced off the crossbar, nearly giving Virginia the lead. 

Despite the Virginia momentum, on the ensuing possession, Indiana’s Maouloune Goumballe stormed down the left side of the field before picking out Collins Oduro in the middle, who buried the ball to give the Hoosiers an early 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. 

Oduro nearly scored again off a header, but the shot was cleared by Jack Singer. The shots continued to come from the Hoosiers as momentum had shifted in Indiana’s favor.

With 16 minutes left in the half, Coach Gelnovatch subbed on Stephen Annor, creating a striker partnership between Annor and Afonso. A few minutes later, Virginia began to have flashes of offense, earning three corner kicks, but failed to execute the opportunities. On the second corner, the ball was loose in the box, resulting in multiple blocked shots as the Hoos inched closer to an equalizer.

Towards the end of the half, Indiana bounced back with multiple chances, eliciting another block from Singer as the Hoos entered halftime trailing 1-0. At the half, Virginia was outshot 7-4 and was yet to register a shot on goal.

That quickly changed, with Elias Norris dribbling towards the middle and firing a shot towards the bottom right corner, testing Indiana keeper JT Harms for the first time. Minutes later, Norris produced a steal, sparking another chance for Virginia.

On the other side of the field, Indiana nearly scored after a solo effort from Samuel Sarver, who, on a counterattack, ran the entire length of the field before firing his shot wide.

Then, with 27 minutes left, Annor headed the ball over the goalie after a through ball sent him through, but his chance was cleared off the line by Jansen Miller. Indiana was playing a high line, allowing Annor to make runs, but Virginia was still trailing as time began to run out.

Minutes later, Annor fired another shot from the box, but the Hoos were still unable to score as the clock fell under 20 minutes.

With less than 15 minutes remaining, Afonso earned Virginia a free kick on the right side of Indiana’s box. The ball whipped in by Mangarov had promise, but no Virginia player managed to get their head on it as it was cleared away, nearly resulting in a goal on the other end.

Gelnovatch then subbed on a third striker in Kome Ubogu as the Cavaliers fought to keep their season alive. Virginia pressed hard, resulting in a yellow card for Thiam after he committed multiple fouls.

With five minutes left, the Cavaliers possessed the ball in Indiana's box but failed to register shots. Later, with three minutes left, Ubogu nearly found Annor in the middle, but the cross was stifled by Harms. With 30 seconds left, Virginia attempted one final surge, but it would not be enough as Virginia fell 1-0 to Indiana.

Gelnovatch was inevitably disappointed by the result of the match, but he managed to look positively towards the future based on what the Cavaliers have been able to accomplish in the last two seasons. 

“These past two seasons we’ve been a top-four seed and a top-seven seed, so we’ve been pretty good, and I think we’ve set a pretty good foundation for next year,” said Gelnovatch. 

The Cavaliers (11-4-4) will look to build on this season that included ten goals from freshman Stephen Annor and a ten-game unbeaten streak. 

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