Never has egg all over my face tasted so good.
I had written UVA off, but UVA proves me wrong and takes the Men's National Championship in Soccer. It wasn't the prettiest match, a 0-0 draw after regulation and overtime, but PK's are always dramatic, and these were no exception, with UVA prevailing 3-2 from the penalty spot.
Technically speaking, UVA was inferior to Akron, just as they were inferior to Wake Forest in the semi. However, UVA has the best goalkeeper, backline, and defensive midfield in the college game, and this enabled the Cavaliers to neutralize the dangerous attacks of both of those offensive juggernauts.
Some thoughts:
Diego Restrepo, the UVA keeper, ought to turn pro. Now. The guy is that good. A very athletic keeper, reads the game well, excellent positionally, and a clutch shot-stopper.
Jonathan Villanueva played like a true #10 shirt. He was calm on the ball, let the game come to him, and made the great plays when he had to. I don't know if he has the speed and athleticism to succeed in MLS, but I have been wrong about him before, to say the least.
In Friday's semi against Wake Forest, I screamed so loud at both UVA goals that my son said he heard me from the middle of the back yard. My back yard is 4 acres, and mostly wooded. My four year old daughter did not know what to think, so she started crying. She was easily consoled once she was convinced Daddy (yes, I'm "Daddy" now to my two youngest children anyway, "Papa" and "Pop" having for some reason fallen out of favor) was indeed happy. Nontheless Daddy knows to try to keep a bit of a lid on it next time.
So, UVA's national championship stands in stark contrast to the wreckage of my season as a supporter of DC United (crashed, burned, did not make playoffs), Virginia Tech (one of the soccer-minnows of the ACC, devoured by the sharks), the Stanford Women (defeated in College Cup finals), and the USMNT, who did well and qualifed for the World Cup but suffered some potentially catastrophic injuries in the process.
I'll take it.
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2 comments:
Ron,
So happy that you, as a Tech man, can take solace in a UVA victory. Bravo to all!
Yeah I may have gone to Tech but I like the UVA soccer team but I'll cheer for Tech if the two schools play each other. As a practical matter, it also helps that uva is a little over an hour away, making it easy to make it to an occasional soccer match. Ain't no way I'm driving 220+ miles to Blacksburg to watch a perrennialy mediocre Tech soccer game.
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