CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Having believed it was robbed of a national seed, the WVU men’s soccer team did nothing to back up its argument Sunday night.
Virginia, the 11th seed, regrouped after the Mountaineers had struck first and then simply survived in the second half to hold on for a 2-1 victory in the second round of the NCAA tournament, at Klöckner Stadium.
The Cavaliers (11-6-3) advanced to the Round of 16 after A.J. Smith came up with a nifty assist and then scored the winning goal. Virginia will now host upstart UMass, which upset No. 6 Penn 1-0 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, WVU saw its once promising season end in frustration.
The Mountaineers (13-2-7), the champions of the Sun Belt Conference who were ranked No. 1 in the country twice during the regular season, lost a match for just the third time over their last 26 matches.
WVU advanced all the way to the national semifinals last season — its first-ever appearance in the College Cup — but fell well short of that a year later, with the doubt of the early ending found on the faces of the WVU players as they laid on the cold wet grass in disbelief, as Virginia’s players rushed to midfield and celebrated.
All seemed well in the early stages of the match, as WVU took a quick 1-0 lead when Marcus Caldeira scored his 11th goal of the season in just the third minute.
He hauled in a deep corner kick from Simon Carlson that went left to right, with Caldeira getting just enough of his right leg on the ball to get it into an open net.
Virginia goalkeeper Joey Batrouni was still working his way to the right side of the goal, but Caldeira’s kick was faster.
It was the only time Batrouni was caught off guard. He saved four other WVU shots on goal, all of them coming in the second half when the Mountaineers were frantically trying to get back into the match.
It took only three minutes for Virginia to tie the match.
In what was a great effort by Albin Gashi, he took a ball that had been headed forward and over WVU defenders by Smith.
Gashi was now on a breakaway and his first shot fell into the arms of WVU keeper Marc Bonnaire, who had charged up and was about 15 yards in front of the goal.
Gashi came into contact with Bonnaire and the ball squirted free, giving Gashi his moment, as he pushed the ball in while falling to the ground.
Smith then scored the game-winner in the 33rd minute, after teammate Brendan Lambe had worked the possession down the left side.
Three WVU defenders were in chase, but Lambe already had the room he needed near WVU’s goal. He crossed the ball to the right side, where Smith was waiting for the go-ahead score.
In the second half, Caldeira had a trio of chances in the 57th and 69th and 72nd minute, but Batrouni was up to the task each time.
WVU’s Felix Ewald also had an opportunity in the 60th minute, but his shot went just wide.
WVU finished the match with a 5-2 edge in shots on goal and outshot the Cavaliers 16-5.
