Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 22, 1993 TAG: 9311220085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
UVa's hopes of a third consecutive NCAA Division I men's soccer championship were in jeopardy before the Cavs scored twice in the final 21 minutes, 45 seconds to pull out a 2-1 victory over Loyola, Md.
"If it gets under 15 minutes, then you've got some problems," said UVa coach Bruce Arena, whose team is unbeaten in 17 NCAA Tournament games since 1988. "To come back on a team with 17 shutouts is quite an accomplishment."
Third-ranked Virginia (19-3) will meet Wisconsin (15-3-4) next weekend in a quarterfinal, probably here in Charlottesville. The Badgers upset Indiana, the top seed in the region, 1-0.
"The top four seeds in the country are gone and little ol' Virginia is still around," Arena said somewhat smugly. "We anticipate being around a little bit longer."
Many people feel Virginia has the best personnel in the country, and Loyola coach Bill Sento wasn't about to disagree, even when the Greyhounds went ahead 1-0 on a goal by Dave Briles with 37:44 remaining.
"I had mixed emotions, but the big part of me was very leery because of the amount of pressure we were under," Sento said. "I had feelings of, `Can we hold it? Can we hold it?' I wasn't comfortable at any time."
Virginia, which outshot the Greyhounds 24-14, repeatedly missed opportunities or was foiled by Loyola goalie Zach Thornton, whose 0.34 goals-against average entering the game was the lowest in Division I.
"We had three or four headers, as I recall, that easily could have gone in," said UVa All-American Claudio Reyna, who tipped a ball over the crossbar with a little more than 25 minutes left.
Minutes earlier, when A.J. Wood had attempted a header, the ball hit him in the face. So, the next time the ball came into the 6-yard box in front of the goal, Wood had a different idea.
"My first thought was to trap it, which is not my strong suit," Wood said. "I just tried to hit it with the softest part of my body and, to my surprise, it popped in front of me."
Thornton, who said he thought Wood might "one-time" the ball, held his ground. That gave Wood the room to punch the ball into the lower-right corner of the net.
Wood was clutching one of his legs when he left the game in the opening minutes, but it was a hamstring problem and not a recurrence of the knee injury that caused him to miss 14 games.
"I wanted to get out and get it stretched before I hurt it again," Wood said. "I wasn't worried that I would get back in. I was worried I wouldn't hold up. The season's over if we don't win."
There was a point in the game when UVa would have accepted overtime, but the Cavaliers stayed on the offensive after Wood's goal. With 7:48 left, Thornton stopped a break by UVa's Nate Friends, but the rebound came to Reyna on the left wing.
"I knew he [Thornton] was out of the goal and just tried to keep my composure and not shoot it [wide]," Reyna said.
The Greyhounds (19-3-1) admittedly grew tired against deeper UVa and the frustration was evident when one player was ejected and Thornton received a caution in the closing minutes.
"If it had gone under 15 minutes [with Loyola leading 1-0], we would have had to make a change, not that it would have mattered, but we probably would have sent everybody forward," Arena said. "That could have ended up 2-0 Loyola if we didn't get a goal."
UVa got a lift from the return of All-America defender Clint Peay, who had missed 11 of 21 games because of a hamstring injury. Arena also cited Friends for his constant offensive pressure.
"They're devoted to attack; they're devoted to possess the ball - as they should be with those players," Sento said of the Cavaliers. "We've played some good teams, and this team is in a class of its own."
by CNB