Cavaliers top Pack for ACC men's soccer title

CARY -- Defense reigned supreme in the ACC Men's Soccer Championship between fifth-seeded Virginia and seventh-seeded N.C. State at WakeMed Soccer Park on Cary.

Will Bates of Virginia scored the game's only goal to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 victory and their 10th ACC Tournament title. No other team has more than three.

"This is a tough, tough tournament," said coach George Gelnovatch, who has led Virginia to four conference championships, most recently in 2004. "It's incredibly difficult to win, and I couldn't be more proud of our guys."

Entering the game, neither Virginia (13-3-3) nor N.C. State (13-6-2) had allowed a goal in the tournament.

That changed when the freshman Bates scored in the 16th minute. The Cavaliers' leading scorer redirected a cross to the far post from 6 yards out past senior goalkeeper Christopher Widman for his eighth goal of the season at 15:12.

Widman hadn't allowed a goal since Nov. 7, when Virginia scored in the 21st minute of its 1-0 victory.

"We know we're going to limit teams to zero to one goals a game," Bates said. "Getting a goal is my responsibility as a forward. And knowing that I did that is a good feeling."

Virginia and N.C. State each scored only one goal in the games leading to the championship. Both teams had a 1-0 victory in one game and advanced on penalty kicks after regulation and overtime ended in a scoreless tie in the other.

Including the three shutouts notched in the ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers have not allowed a goal in their last 837 minutes of play.

Junior goalkeeper Diego Restrepo, who ranked third in the nation in goals-against average entering Sunday's match, is one of the big reasons. He notched three saves and a shutout in the final on his way to winning tournament MVP honors. The shutout was his 12th of the season.

"There is no 'I' on this defense; we really played hard as a group back there," Restrepo said.

A fifth seed had not won the ACC Tournament since Duke in 2005. But Gelnovatch said the difference between the first and seventh seeds in the ACC this season was marginal.

"Had we won [at North Carolina] in overtime, which we almost did, we would have finished first in the ACC," he said. "You can see that by having the five and seven seeds in the final."

Virginia, which improved to 4-1-1 against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament, earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

This loss drops N.C. State to 1-4-2 against ranked teams this season, but the Wolfpack, ranked 20th nationally, expects to get an NCAA Tournament bid when the field is announced tonight.

"This is not a goodbye," Wolfpack coach George Tarantini said. "This is a goodbye to the ACC Tournament. We are ready for the NCAA, and we expect to go the farthest we can."

Joining Restrepo on the all-tournament team from Virginia were Bates, Tony Tchani and Hunter Jumper. State was represented by Widman, Alan Sanchez and Ronnie Bouemboue.

Virginia 1, N.C. State 0

First--1, Bates (Evans, Jumper), 16th minute.

Second--none

Yellow cards--N.C. State, Nachmann, 53rd minute; Aiyebusi, 59th; Sanchez, 78th. Virginia, Ownby, 72nd minute.

Att.--3,497

Records: N.C. State 13-6-2; Virginia (14-3-3).

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