UVA Men Beat NC State, 2-1

RALEIGH, N.C. – Darius Madison (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa.) scored the golden goal with just under seven minutes left in double overtime to lift the Virginia men’s soccer team to a 2-1 win at NC State Thursday evening in the teams’ regular-season finale at Dail Soccer Field. Will Bates (Sr., Chester, Va.) also scored on a penalty kick as the Cavaliers rallied from a 1-0 first-half deficit.

“We had a little bit of a slow start in the first half,” Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. “Obviously you don’t want to get scored on, but the response of this team when they got down was outstanding. That was evident in the second half when we took control of the game. As soon as we got the first goal, I felt like it was only a matter of time until we got our second goal.”

Virginia (9-6-2, 3-4-1 ACC) will be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming ACC tournament and will travel to No. 3 seed Wake Forest for a 7 p.m. Tuesday quarterfinal match. The ACC semifinals and championship will be played Nov. 9 and 11 at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md.

The Wolfpack (10-9, 1-7) took the lead in the 35th minute of play. Alex Martinez threaded a ball into the box that Connor Agnew slid to reach, poking it past UVa goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita (So., Raleigh, N.C.) and into net for his third goal of the season.

The Cavaliers drew even in the 69th minute after a NC State handball in the box gave Virginia a penalty kick opportunity. Bates converted the chance from the spot for his team-leading 11th goal of the season and his 45th career score, which is seventh most in program history. With the goal Bates also became the 10th player in UVa history to reach 100 career points (45 goals, 10 assists).

The game winner came with 6:51 remaining in the second overtime. Zach Carroll (Fr., Grand Blanc, Mich.) lofted a long ball from the defensive end which bounced over the Wolfpack defense and gave Madison a one-on-one chance with the keeper. He took a touch and placed a shot inside the far post for his second goal of the season. 

Virginia out-shot NC State, 13-8, and took nine corner kicks to one for the Wolfpack. LaCivita made a pair of saves for UVa, while NC State keeper Fabian Otte made three saves.