The No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers are College Cup-bound with tonight’s 3-0 victory over the defending national champions Maryland Terrapins Friday night at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers have now won 14 straight games and Diego Restrepo had his 11th consecutive shutout this season.
Three Cavaliers scored for Virginia. Neil Barrow gave the ‘Hoos an early need with a shot from 20 yards out at the 5:01 mark, deflected off the defender. In the second half, Will Bates notched his 12th goal of the season with a header off a cross by Barrow at the 58:28 mark. Jordan Evans sealed the deal with a one timer off a Tony Tchani assist at 77:59, marking his first goal of the season.
The quarterfinal victory in front of 4,900 fans sends UVa back to the College Cup for the first time since 2006 and third time in head coach George Gelnovatch's tenure.
Maryland outshot Virginia 8-7 and had three saves to UVA’s one, and had only five fouls to UVA’s eight. Virginia, however, had four corners to UMD’s one.
"Other than some seconds in the first half after we scored, I thought we were very good," Gelnovatch said. "Some of our seniors are going to the second College Cup of their careers, and there are a lot of great stories on our team this year."
Restrepo has now gone 1,107 minutes and 34 seconds without allowing a goal, as he chases the NCAA record for consecutive shutout minutes (1,318:26 set by Michigan State’s Avery Steinlage earlier this year). Virginia’s had 16 shutouts this season. One in College Cup against the winner of Wake Forest/UCLA would tie the UVA record for shutouts in a season.
The 2009 NCAA College Cup national semifinal will be Friday, December 11 at either 5:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. in Cary, N.C.