The defending national champions were bounced out of the NCAA in the first round on Thursday night, as the Virginia men’s soccer team fell 1-0 to Old Dominion. The game was knotted at 0 until a Monarch goal in the 63rd minute would seal Virginia’s fate.
The Cavaliers outshot the Monarchs 7-1 in the first half and 18-8 on the game, and held an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks, but was unable to capitalize on any of these opportunities.
"But up until the last minute I thought we were going to score," Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. "The shot Will Bates had that the goalkeeper got a finger on and grabbed off the line. The header T.J. Cyrus puts just wide. When those things happen, it just isn't your day. Last year, we got those breaks. But this still hurts."
Virginia was given two yellow cards over the course of 24 seconds early in the second half. Shortly thereafter, ODU’s Jordan LeBlanc took down Brian Ownby in front of the Virginia bench and was issued a yellow card, rather than a red. Gelnovatch slammed the turf ground in anger.
"Don’t push because I’m this close to crossing the line," said Gelnovatch. "I don’t want to comment on that."
"We played hard and deserved better. That’s all I have to say."
"This was a different group of guys [from last year’s championship team]," Gelnovatch said. "It’s a younger, less-experienced group of guys, but it still hurts because most of them were around for the championship last year."
Virginia will lose only two seniors to graduation hopes to use some of the experience from this year to their advantage next season.
"In the spring we will get back to training and turn our focus to next year and winning more championships."