Virginia Men’s Soccer heading to NCAA title game with 2-1 win over Wake Forest

All it took was a five minute span in the first half for the No. 1 seed Virginia men’s soccer team to produce enough offense to secure its spot in Sunday’s National Championship game. Second year Daryl Dike had both of the Cavaliers’ goals in a 2-1 victory over ACC foe Wake Forest in the second semifinal of the night. Virginia will face Georgetown in the title game on Sunday at 6pm after the Hoyas defeated Stanford, 2-0.

The weather in Cary was completely miserable as the two squads had to deal with driving rain, temps in the 40s, and pockets of the pitch soaked in water. Virginia had just two shots on goal, but both hit pay dirt as Wake’s keeper Andrew Pannenberg had no saves on the evening. Wake Forest edged Virginia in total shots (11-8) and had eight shots on goal, but Colin Shutler was fabulous in cage for the Wahoos with seven saves.

Dike’s first goal came in the 19th minute and was SportsCenter Top 10 worthy as he one-touched a field-length pass from first year defender Andreas Ueland. Despite the dramatic angle, the shot rocketed past the Wake keeper and put the Hoos up 1-0.

The Hoos scored again just four minutes later on a well-struck corner kick from Daniel Steedman. As the bodies moved in the box, Dike came out of the crowd, getting a head on it for the goal and the 2-0 lead.

Wake would get on the board in the 79th minute as Ueland was called for a penalty in the box. Bruno Lapa converted the kick — although Shutler got a hand on it — and the Demon Deacons had a breath of life. With just over a minute left, Shutler dove off his line for a beautiful grab. His seventh and final save effectively ended the threat and allowed Virginia to run out the clock.

This was Virginia’s second win over Wake Forest on the season as the Hoos took down the Demon Deacons, 1-0, in the second round of the ACC tournament.

Sunday’s game, which is set to kick off at 6pm, gives the Cavaliers a chance to go for their 8th program title.