Virginia entered the ACC Tournament needing to make a statement to stay alive in this postseason. Thanks to late game penalty heroics, that’s exactly what they did.
No. 9 seed Virginia (7-6-4, 3-3-2 ACC) took down No. 8 seed Notre Dame (7-5-4, 4-4-0 ACC) by a score of 2-2 (5-4) in an absolute thriller in South Bend, Ind., on Wednesday. In a matchup of fantastic goalkeepers, with fourth-year Caleb Tunks for Virginia and junior Blake Kelly for Notre Dame, the Cavaliers survived.
Despite the urgency of the match, the Cavaliers came out slow. The Fighting Irish controlled much of the ball throughout the first five minutes, finding an early opportunity as a corner kick bounced out to senior defender Sean McDowd, who hit a volley hard past Tunks at the lower left corner of the goal. The ball struck the post, and a Virginia clearance kept the game scoreless…