Cavaliers Now

Virginia Men's Soccer Takes Down Top Seed Pitt 2-0 in ACC Quarterfinals

Matt Newton

Virginia Athletic

Once again, George Gelnovatch has his Cavaliers playing their best soccer at the most important time of the year. 16 days after suffering a horrifying 4-1 loss to this same opponent on this same field, the Virginia men's soccer team got revenge when it mattered most, taking down No. 1 seed Pittsburgh 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday night at Ambrose Urbanic Field in Pittsburgh.

In the first round of the ACC Championship, the Cavaliers scored twice in a span of 20 seconds to erase a one-goal deficit and knock off No. 8 seed NC State 2-1. In their next match, the Cavaliers again used a lightning-fast two goal burst to seize control, this time scoring twice in a span of just 27 seconds to take down the Panthers.

In another parallel to the NC State match, Virginia was outplayed in the first half as Pitt had a 4-1 advantage in shots, a 5-1 edge in corners, and forced UVA goalie Tom Miles to make two saves to keep it a scoreless tie at halftime. But as the game entered its final stages, the Cavaliers once again upped their quality, first breaking through in the 68th minute, when Paul Wiese played a corner short to Daniel Mangarov, who delivered an exquisite cross into the box, where Umberto Pela directed it into the back of the net with a perfect header for his first-career goal in 37 career games.

As the Panthers triggered the restart and began passing the ball along their back line, Pitt center back Niklas Soerensen slipped as he tried to control the ball and UVA sophomore forward AJ Smith was there to pounce on it, leading to a breakaway one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. Smith didn't squander the chance to double Virginia's lead, slotting home his shot in the back left corner of the net to make it 2-0 Cavaliers in the blink of an eye.

Pitt believed it had an equalizer in the 80th minute, but that goal was wiped away by an offsides call and the Cavaliers went on to record the shut out, an impressive feat considering the Panthers scored four goals on this team a little over two weeks ago. Pittsburgh outshot Virginia 8-4 and had a 10-2 advantage in corners, but Tom Miles and the UVA defense held firm and secured the clean sheet.

The Cavaliers became the second Virginia sports team to pick up an upset victory in the Steel City this weekend, as the UVA football team knocked off No. 18 Pittsburgh 24-19 on Saturday night in a game that was attended by the UVA men's soccer team at Acrisure Stadium.

With the win, Virginia (10-5-3) will advance to the semifinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Championship for the second time in the last three seasons. The Cavaliers will take on No. 5 seed Wake Forest in the ACC semifinals on Thursday at 5:30pm at WakeMed Soccer park in Cary, North Carolina and the match will be televised on the ACC Network. The winner of that match will take on the winner of the second semifinal between No. 11 California and No. 2 Clemson in the ACC Men's Soccer Championship Game on Sunday at noon.

Published
Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.