CLEMSON, S.C. The No. 4 ranked Virginia men’s soccer team suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling to Clemson 2-1 Friday night at Historic Riggs Field. The loss snapped a seven game unbeaten streak for the Cavaliers, who fall to 7-2-2 overall and 1-1-2 in the ACC.

“This game was what I expected,” said head coach George Gelnovatch. “They played very direct and looked to capitalize on restarts. That’s how they got their second goal, off of a long throw in. On the other end, we had three good chances at 1-1 to take the lead, but give their goalkeeper credit on making some quality saves.”

The Tigers (5-7-2, 1-1-2 ACC) jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of play. Eric Cava’s cross was flicked on by Tommy Drake to Michael Brooks, who headed it in for his third goal of the season. Virginia drew even in the 12th minute of play as Ross LaBauex (Chicago, Ill.) tapped in a rebound of Jeremy Barlow’s (Herndon, Va.) shot for his third goal of the season. The game remained tied 1-1 at intermission.

Clemson retook the lead in the 65th minute as a loose ball in the box came to Drake who blasted a shot from the top of the box into the net for his third goal of the season. Virginia continued to pressure over the final 25 minutes, but couldn’t score the equalizer.

The Cavaliers outshot the Tigers 16-12 in the game and had an 11-3 corner kick advantage. Michael Giallombardo (Manalapan, N.J.) made one seven save for Virginia while Joseph Bendik made nine saves for Clemson.

Virginia will return to home to start a five game homestand on Tuesday when Florida Atlantic visits Klckner Stadium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Clemson 2, #4 Virginia 1

#4 Virginia (7-2-2, 1-1-2)        1    0    1       
Clemson (5-7-1, 1-4-0)            1    1    2
   
Scoring Summary
1.    CU. Brooks, 3 (Cava, Drake) 5’
2.    UVa. LaBauex, 3 (J.Barlow) 12’
3.    CU. Drake, 3 (unassisted) 65’

            UVa    CU
Shots:      16     12
Corners:    11     3   
Saves:      1      9
Fouls:      15     13
YC/RC:      3/0    1/0

Weather: 63 degrees, clear
Attendance: 1168