Nov. 23, 2004

Charlottesville, Va. - American University's men's soccer team was downed by the Virginia Cavaliers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 2-1, Tuesday at Klockner Stadium.

Each team had a few quality chances in the first half, with AU missing a shot just wide of the Virginia net and the Cavalier's forcing senior goaltender Thomas Myers (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) to make some fantastic saves. Despite Au holding a 5-3 first half advantage in shots, the two teams went into the half deadlocked at 0-0.

American came out of the break a rejuvenated team, determined to get on the board first. Sophomore Sal Caccavale (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) did just that for the Eagles, corralling a pass from Garth Juckem (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Jesuit) and buried it with a solid strike that Virginia goalie Ryan Burke had no chance to get. Down 1-0, just two minutes into the second frame, Virginia turned up the heat scoring the equalizer five minutes later. Nico Colaluca received the ball on a cross off a corner and lofted the ball in the net to knot the game at 1-1.

Fifteen minutes later Virginia's Will Hall scored the game-winner on a 25 yard uncontested shot that Myers was unable to get to. American's best chance to tie the game came in the 18th minute when defender Nate Baker (Bowie, Md./St. John's College High School) took an awkward shot falling down from three yards out that sailed wide of the Cavalier goal.

Myers made three saves in net, with UVa.'s Burke registering two. American held a 12-8 advantage in shots as well as tallying five corners to Virginia's three.

American ends the season with a 15-6-2 record, a drastic turnaround from last season's 7-9-1 squad. AU graduates a senior class that took the team to the NCAA tournament three out of the four years they played for the Eagles, a feat never accomplished before. Virginia will go on to play the winner of the New Mexico/Portland game, which started on 9 p.m.