After hitting posts, men's soccer hits a wall at rival Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Soon after the final whistle blew at Klöckner Stadium on Friday, Patrick Mullins crouched to the ground and buried his face in his hands.

The Terrapins men's soccer forward stayed in that position for several moments, grappling with the events that had just unfolded against ACC rival Virginia.

In the previous 90 minutes, his team had shot attempts hit the crossbar, the left post, the right post twice and another shot cleared off the goal line.

Capitalizing on that string of near-misses, Virginia forward Will Bates rocketed a 15-yard shot past Terps goalkeeper Will Swaim in the 84th minute. That goal, Bates' 10th of the year, sealed a 2-1 Cavaliers win and ended the No. 2 Terps' unbeaten streak at 12.

"It definitely leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because I'm proud of our team," Mullins said. "I thought we played well, and I think we definitely deserved to take it into overtime or maybe even win the game. But I'll give credit to them: They finished their chances well."

Bates' finish in the waning minutes made all the difference in a back-and-forth match between two of the ACC's elite programs. Virginia forward Ryan Zinkhan scored in the 51st minute before forward Casey Townsend evened it in the 61st with his 12th goal of the season.

But unlike Bates, the Terps (11-1-1, 3-1 ACC) struggled to find the net when it mattered most.

They hit the left post in the 33rd minute, the crossbar in the 52nd and the right post in the 55th and 79th — both by Townsend. Of their 19 shots, four met metal Friday.

"We deserved better," coach Sasho Cirovski said. "It's one of those games where you are just a little off. You start to think it might end up this way."

After Virginia (7-4, 3-1) seized possession early, the Terps found their bearings and began putting on a show for the 2,898 in attendance.

Defender Taylor Kemp curled a 30-yard free kick off the left post in the 33rd minute. Three minutes later, Townsend unleashed a 17-yard attempt that sailed mere inches wide of the right post, one of eight errant shots for the Terps' top scorer.

The team emerged from halftime intent on grabbing a lead, but it was ultimately thwarted by an unranked Virginia squad hoping to capture its first season-defining win. Midfielder Felipe Libreros cleared Mullins' header off the goal line, and goalkeeper Spencer LaCivita made a leaping save on Townsend's strike from the top of the box.

The chaotic pace took a decisive turn in the 51st minute when Zinkhan took a through ball from Bates and placed it into the far side of the net for his second career goal.

Working from a second-half deficit for only the second time this season, the Terps turned to the prolific frontline duo of Mullins and Townsend.

And after a Mullins shot clanked off the crossbar and Townsend struck the right post within a three-minute span, Townsend turned at the corner of the 6-yard box and snapped a low shot past LaCivita. The goal evened the score at 1-1 and gave the senior captain a career-high 12 goals on the season.

Townsend's last attempt met an all-too-familiar fate, however. His header in the 79th minute ricocheted off the right post, leaving more than enough time for the game's other top attacker to grab the game winner.

It began with Zinkhan, who took a cross from Kyler Sullivan and dropped it off to Bates, who sent the ball sailing beyond the outstretched arms of a diving Swaim.

"Bates hit one hell of a strike," said Swaim, who conceded multiple goals for just the second time this season. "He just hit it really well."

But for a Terps team that was enjoying its best start since 1968, the reality that Swaim could do little to prevent Bates' world-class finish brought little solace.

"I'm really just going to remember this, the feeling," Mullins said. "I want to play them again. They're a great opponent, and I want to play them again. That's all I can say."

letourneau@umdbk.com