Virginia Men’s Soccer Advances to Third Round

Virginia Cavaliers’ soccerhoos made it into the third round of the NCAA tournament this weekend after a pair of second half goals from sophomore Nathaniel Crofts. The Hoos dominated the shooting statistics on the day - finishing with 15 shots compared to Furman’s 5. However, frustration continued to mount for the team as they had failed to score in their previous two games and were incapable of finding the back of the net in the first half against the Paladins. In the 77th minute, Crofts broke through with a nifty give-and-go to weave through 5 defenders and finish with a poised strike to left corner.

Keeper Mark DaSilva made his first appearance for the Hoos and came up with 4 saves - including this one with only a few minutes to go:

The final goal of the game also belonged to Crofts, who sealed things with another composed finish to the left after a beautiful through pass from senior forward Kennedy Nwabia:

The Wahoos will face Notre Dame in the next round, after the Irish defeated Michigan on penalty kicks. UVa travels to South Bend on Saturday the 24th. The two teams played to a scoreless tie on October 23rd and last faced each other in the NCAA tournament in 2014 - a game won by UVa 1-0 (on the way to their national championship).