CCSU Vs. UV

Photo Cred: Conrad Akier

Klockner Stadium is a landmark for soccer in the United States. Home to one of the top ranked Atlantic Coast Conference teams, the University of Virginia Cavaliers, the squad boasts an amazing record of nine ACC titles and five NCAA Tournament championships.
Last Monday, September 22nd, the Central Connecticut Blue Devils embarked on a nine hour bus ride to arrive in time for a match-up against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. With a North England Conference (NEC) title and advancement in the NCAA Tournament to the Sweet Sixteen under their belts, the Blue Devils were meeting up with a team they had not seen since 1997. In that one and only rendezvous with the Cavaliers, Virginia shut out Central 4-0.
“Virginia is a top notch team,” remarked Coach Shaun Green. Sitting on the bus, Green explained how he had studied and watched the last couple Virginia games. “They're one of the quickest teams I've seen in my college career.”
Making a short stop in Rahway, New Jersey, the Blue Devils did a meet and greet with a crowd of middle school aged soccer players practicing during the afternoon. Rahway is where Edwin Recinos lives, a former teammate of Greens. Recinos is involved with Central's squad in practically every aspect of his life, including his wife and kids, who travel and support the team whenever they can. Recino jumped aboard the bus, and the long journey ensued.
Arriving in Charlottesville, Virginia early in the morning, the team was exhausted and only looking forward to a six to seven hour slumber. The following day, getting ready for the match required plenty of breakfast, lunch, hydration, and naps.
Tuesday afternoon, the team was ferried to Klockner Stadium for a warm-up. Everyone including the coaches expressed their envy of the University's field. The turf was hug worthy as many teammates sprawled out on the field and others walked around, admiring and catching every angle of the monumental field that has hosted 27 NCAA Tournament matches and has held up to 8,000 fans.
Seven o'clock loomed around the corner, and the stadium began to fill with Virginia's faithful followers adorned in orange shirts. UVA apparently does an impressive job of interesting people to come out for games and holds an array of fan related activities all throughout the games, from one dollar hot dog, soda deals to rocketing memorabilia into the crowd with t-shirt guns.
As loud music pumped out of the sound system, the introductions began, and with the calling of each name, a video screen built into the intricate scoreboard flashed pictures and video of their well loved Cavaliers. Having watched Virginia's warm ups, there was a feeling in the air that this team was going to be something else; something that had the potential to blindside and leave other teams speechless.
Six minutes after the start of the match, Cavalier freshman Tony Tchani sank in a shot past Blue Devils goalkeeper Paul Armstrong from 15 yards away, but then something happened ten minutes later that overcast the entire game.
In what seemed to be a complete accidental collision with Central junior defender David Tyrie, Virginia's forward Chris Agorsor, recently voted one of the best freshman in the country, landed and tore his ACL and had possibly torn his PCL, which is an uncommon injury. 28:17 was frozen on the scoreboard for ten minutes as medics rushed out, the ambulance came, and Agorsor was taken away on a stretcher. Agorsor will be out for Virginia's entire season.
Once the game presumed, Tchani avenged his fallen teammate by scoring the penalty kick. With twelve minutes left in the first half, Cavaliers junior Ross LaBauex scored while Armstrong was out of the box. The 45 minutes ended with Virginia making 14 shots and Central with 1.
Only one other goal occurred in the first 15 seconds of the second half; it was made by Virginia freshman Brian Ownby from 12 yards away. For the remainder of the game, Central's squad held Virginia back as the rest of their shots on goal failed. What was remarkable though, was that each shot on goal by Virginia was an acceptable one; Armstrong and the Central squad's defense worked hard and did not falter.
After 11 years, Virginia had still managed to pull a deja vu shut out, and while Central came out a little frustrated, it was the experience that counted. Central got to mix up their line up, putting in many newcomers who needed the game play.
“These types of games are challenging but important,” said Coach Green. “It raises our visibility on a national level, and prepares us for the big games. There's no shame in getting beat and knocked down, it's getting back up and responding.”