I'm a little confused as to what exactly is going on with our soccer team. We're the 11th ranked team in the country, right? Am I missing something here? About a month ago, we shocked No. 2 Wake Forest on the road. Then we lose a home matchup against unranked, unheralded Clemson? Someone explain this to me.
And I ask this because tonight, we managed to tie -- yes, tie -- Liberty. We've dominated the series, winning the last 17 games, in convincing fashions no less. But what happened tonight? Liberty is a 5-2-3 team. Respectable, you might think. But just think for a second about their competition. They're not playing No. 2 Wake or No. 5 Carolina. They're Liberty.
Despite outshooting liberty 10-2 in the first half, the first 45 minutes went without a score. So you can imagine Virginia's excitement when Brian Ownby put up a shot off the left goal post to break the tie, 1-0.
"I kind of tried to slide it past the keeper and he kind of nicked it and it went right into the post," Ownby said, "but luckily Bates was right there and smashed it in."
But don't blink now, because before you knew it, Liberty had responded with a quick goal to bring it right back to the tie.
"As a goalkeeper, it’s really frustrating," said Virginia goalie Diego Restrepo. "[I’ve] given up six goals and five are off of [restarts]. It’s really frustrating for me."
Somehow Virginia, 11th ranked in the country, is 1-3 in the ACC. We're going to need to pick this up if we expect to continue our Tradition of Excellence [Then, Now, Always?]. Our next game is vs. Virginia Tech on Friday night.
"I do feel like this year we’ve had to work for every single bounce, every single goal, every single win," Gelnovatch said. "We’ve had to work for everything, and hopefully we’re better for it in the end."