Neinken Clips Clemson
Friday, October 10 2008 by Tim
Chase Neinken’s clean up goal off a Tony Tchani assist in the 88th minute lifted Virginia over visiting Clemson 1-0 tonight at Klöckner Stadium.
It was a physical game, featuring 27 fouls and lots of talking between the players on the pitch – though only one yellow card on each team. The Clemson coach even spent a couple minutes arguing with the referee after the game was over.
The Cavaliers led the Tigers in shots (15-2), shots on goal (6-1) and corner kicks (4-3).
Virginia midfielder Jonathan Villanueva was involved in several altercations with Clemson players, leading first to a yellow card, then about as close as you can get to an ejection without it actually occurring. Neil Barlow subbed in for Villanueva in the 36th minute to stop what seemed like an inevitable red card.
The Virginia midfielders and attack didn’t have as many clean scoring chances as we’ve seen in recent games and they didn’t capitalize on the ones they had particularly well. That is, until the 88th minute when the Cavaliers had a corner kick, followed by a bit of a scrum in front of the goal. Tchani’s header was blocked and the ball dropped right in front of Neinken who put it in the lower left corner of the net. Two and a half minutes later, the Clemson players fell the ground, obviously exhausted and probably upset at the late loss. The Cavaliers jumped up and down and ran to the student section to celebrate.
Virginia is still perfect in the ACC (4-0, 8-3 overall) while Clemson falls to 2-2-1 in the ACC (3-5 overall).
The Cavaliers head to Boston College next Friday for a 7pm match with the Eagles.
Note: I put a few pictures from the game up on the photo gallery. Unfortunately my camera died (still getting used to the new one) before halftime, so there isn’t much to see.
See the goal here, courtesy of virginiasportstv.com.