No. 1 Virginia earns spot in NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup final against Georgetown

CARY, N.C. – Sophomore Daryl Dike (Edmond, Okla.) scored two first half goals in a 2-1 Virginia (21-1-1) victory over fourth-seeded Wake Forest (16-5-2) in the NCAA College Cup Semifinals at Sahlen’s Stadium on Friday night (Dec. 13). The Cavaliers will play Georgetown for the NCAA Championship on Sunday (Dec. 15).

Dike put the Cavaliers on the board with an electrifying strike off a long pass from Andreas Ueland (Byrne, Norway) in the 19^th minute to put Virginia in front 1-0. Ueland served a ball from the Cavalier side of the field that was placed well enough for Dike to run on to and crack a shot off a bounce into the top left corner of the net.

Just 3:19 later the Cavaliers leading scorer was at it again, heading in a Daniel Steedman (Glasgow, Scotland) corner kick service to give Virginia a 2-0 advantage. Dike scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season and became the third Cavalier this NCAA postseason to score two goals in a match.

Wake Forest made it interesting in the final 12 minutes of action after drawing a foul in the box in the 79^th minute. First Team All-American Bruno Lapa converted the penalty kick attempt that was touched by goalkeeper Colin Shutler (Middleburg, Va.) before hitting the back of the net.

The goal ignited the Demon Deacons who created one more dangerous opportunity with 1:51 left on the clock that was pushed aside by Shutler. It was one of six second half saves for the Cavalier netminder who finished the night with a season-high, seven stops.

Wake Forest outshot Virginia, 11-7 in the contest and held 7-3 advantage in the final 45 minutes of action.

In the earlier semifinal, third-seeded Georgetown defeated seventh-seeded Stanford, 2-0 to advance to the program’s second NCAA Championship game. Sunday’s match is slated for 6 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPNU.

Additional Notes

• Virginia will play in its ninth national title game and fourth under George Gelnovatch.
• The Cavaliers improve are now 18-5-3 at Sahlen’s Stadium (WakeMed Soccer Park).
• Virginia owns the nation’s longest win streak at 10 games, their second double-digit win streak of the 2019 season.
• The 21 wins on the season are one shy of matching the school record set by both the 1993 and 1994 National Championship teams.
• Dike’s 26 points on the season are the most by a Cavaliers since Will Bates tallied 32 (14g, 4a) in 2011.
• The assist from Steedman on the eventual game-winner was third of the tournament and seventh of the season.
• Virginia improved to 16-0 when leading at the half and 19-0-1 when scoring first.
• The helper from Ueland was his first career assist and his fifth point (2g, 1a) of the NCAA Tournament.