Dear Old U.Va.

Hoos Take The Title on Penalties

Sunday, December 13 2009 by Tiki

In the late 80s and early 90s, the Virginia Cavaliers were the team to beat in NCAA soccer.  From 89 through 94, they won 5 titles and then in 97 they played for another.  Since then, the Hoos are struggled a bit, at least by their own lofty expectations.  The struggles ended today.

In a cold, pouring rain, the Hoos and Akron Zips traded scoring chances and some hard fouls for 110 minutes of scoreless soccer.  There were some great defensive plays, a couple of clutch saves by both keepers, and some sloppy play from everybody.  The game would go to penalties.

Say what you want about deciding such important games with penalties, but it certainly creates some drama.  UVA goalkeeper Diego Restrepo stopped the first Akron shot, and the Hoos had an early lead.  After another miss by Akron, UVA needed just one out of its final two kickers to convert.  Jonathon Villanueva and Greg Monaco were up to bat, but neither could come through.  This left Akron needing to convert their last shot to keep the game going. 

“He missed!  He missed!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Hoos Win!”  That was my reaction.  Or at least the part of it that I can repeat here.  Pretty exciting.  You have to feel kind of bad for Akron, who had a great season and lost in a devastating way.  But, this is not an Akron blog (are there any?), so we will rejoice. 

Great, if sloppy, soccer game.  The Hoos win their 6th title, and with most of the team returning, they will be dangerous again next year. 

Wahoowa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim was at the game, and will have pictures and thoughts when he returns.  I was not at the game, which sucks.  I should’ve been.