Virginia Soccer wins 2OT thriller over Villanova as Gelnovatch sets school record

The #13 Virginia men’s soccer team converted a penalty kick by third year Sergi Nus in the 105th minute to cap off an exciting season opener as they defeated Villanova, 3-2. The Hoos won their fourth-straight home opener - and 17th straight at Klöckner Stadium - as the good guys got contributions from some new and familiar faces.

Villanova opened the scoring just 6:37 into the game, but Virginia got an equalizer from third year Edward Opoku just over two minutes later. First year Faris Abdi made quite the first impression in his Virginia debut, assisting on Opoku’s goal and scoring one of his own in the second half.

Virginia rode Abdi’s advantage until the 69th minute when the Wildcats evened the score at two on a goal by Luca Mellor. Neither team was able to connect in the first overtime session, pushing the contest into double OT.

Villanova’s Jack Gilliam was called for a foul (and received a yellow card) midway through the second overtime period, setting up the game winning goal from Nus.

Check out the full highlights below:

The win was the 296th career win for head coach George Gelnovatch, making him the winningest soccer coach in UVA history.

Gelnovatch passed now-US Men’s National Team head coach Bruce Arena for first place in the history books. Coach Gelnovatch succeeded Arena in the position, and is in his 22nd season as head coach (was assistant coach for seven seasons prior) and now boasts an overall record of 296-121-49 with national championships in 2009 and 2014.

He will have an opportunity to continue adding to his impressive win total as the Hoos host Hofstra on Thursday, August 31 at 6pm.