Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW): Good teams adapt to become better.   Its an old adage in sports, and UVA Men’s Soccer, especially over the last few matches, is no different.  They have seen wins turn into draws late into matches.  They have seen draws turn into losses late into matches.  Lately, they have flipped the script and turned draws and losses into wins late into matches.  Yesterday evening’s battle with American University looked like more of the same.  

UVA was put on the back foot very quickly via a Toshi Davis goal in the fifth minute, an advantage doubled by Sam Hershey eight minutes later.   Interestingly enough, in the matches UVA has not won this year, they had never been down by more than two goals before this point.  With their backs against the wall and staring another non-conference defeat in the face, the Hoos turned to their most prolific chance creator, right-back Paul Wiese, who shot an inch-perfect cross into the box for his defensive partner Nick Dang.  Dang, as he had done multiple times already in his first season on Grounds, belted the ball home with his head to cut the lead in half, bringing the score to 2-1 as the first half came to an end.  The defender is also UVA’s leading scorer with five on the season .  What was presumably an inspiring half-time team talk from Head coach George Gelnovatch galvanized the Hoos even further, and they came out swinging as the whistle blew for the second half.  In a clever sequence three minutes from the whistle, David Okorie slotted a cutback pass to Kome Obugu who struck the ball with precision into the back of the net to tie the match at 2.  More stellar Danny Mangarov passing found Obugu moments later, who started yet another dangerous chance, ultimately finished off by Luke Burns to give the Hoos their first lead of the evening.   Obugu was not yet done, he made a well-timed run at the American back-line at the 60-minute mark, and Alex Parvu picked him out with a perfectly placed cross.   Obugu’s finishing instincts did the rest, and a 4-2 scoreline was enough to see off the game, and allow the Hoos three more points, continuing their high-flying month of October.  

A big conference test awaits the Hoos on Saturday as the Syracuse Orange come to town for a 7:00 PM kickoff.  The Senior Night match will be broadcast on ACCNX.