The Virginia men’s soccer team defeated Rider 3-0 on Thursday to earn a win at Klöckner Stadium to kick off the Cavaliers’ new soccer season (1-0, 0-0 ACC). A number of transfers and rookies were brought in earlier this offseason to replace several key players who had moved on to the pros. Junior defenseman Nick Dang, a transfer from Lipscomb, earned a spot in the starting lineup and made a significant impact, consistently disrupting the Broncs (0-1, 0-0 Metro). Excluding goalies, Dang was tied for the team lead with an incredible 87 minutes played. Combined with talented returnees, these Cavaliers in a new look integrated well and achieved a comfortable victory in which they had the entire game under control.

Sophomore midfielder Brendan Lambe opened the game on defense and quickly forced Rider into a turnover, giving Virginia’s offense a chance to attack. The Cavaliers had the ball in their hands for most of the first few minutes before Rider was able to get it down the court. The Broncs had two consecutive shots on Virginia’s goal after about 40 minutes, with a near-double hit bouncing off the post and narrowly missing the net.

The Cavaliers then successfully defended a corner kick and almost got back on the offensive before a foul was called against veteran defender Paul Weise and Rider was awarded a free kick. Once again, veteran goalkeeper Joey Batrouni held firm. Both teams then continued to exchange brief periods of possession.

Fifth-year midfielder Daniel Mangarov and junior defender Reese Miller stormed down the field, passing to each other until Miller made a perfect pass to Mangarov, who scored the first goal in the 36th minute. The veteran Mangarov has now scored Virginia’s first goal of the season three years in a row.

A minute later, the Cavaliers developed another promising attack before an offside decision halted the momentum. In the 33rd minute, Lambe almost scored his first career goal, but rookie goalkeeper Adam Salama thwarted the shot.

After just under 30 minutes, a questionable foul against Virginia gave the Broncs another free kick – but the shot was vehemently blocked by Virginia’s defensive wall. On the offensive, Mangarov almost scored a second goal in the 23rd minute, but Salama blocked the shot.

Three minutes later, Rider’s attack was stopped by an offside penalty. The Cavaliers and Broncs continued to have long but unsuccessful periods of possession, including a few penalties.

Virginia got a corner kick in the 14th minute, but Weise couldn’t capitalize. Sophomore Cesar Cordova rebounded a shot on goal that was blocked, and Mangarov shot again that also missed, but the Cavaliers got another corner kick. Weise’s attempt was blocked again and Virginia had to focus on defense again.

Almost immediately after recovering possession, Rider gave the ball back to Virginia after a foul. The Cavaliers nearly had another perfect scoring opportunity, but lost possession after being ruled offside.

With 34.3 seconds left in the first period, forward Kome Ubogu scored Virginia’s second goal of the night to make it 2-0. The senior is a staple on the Cavaliers bench and has scored 12 goals in his career.

At halftime, Virginia had the Broncs completely under control. Rider had already committed a whopping 13 fouls, and the Cavaliers made Salama’s day even more difficult by firing seven shots at the junior. Meanwhile, none of Rider’s three shots were counted as shots on goal.

The first few minutes of the second half were similar to most of the first half. A few penalties and long periods of possession, but not much action despite several corners.

On a corner kick in the 38th minute, Dang was able to use the rebound off a Bronc defender for a second corner chance. Unfortunately, Virginia could not extend the lead, but continued to dominate the time of possession.

A few minutes later, Rider issued a yellow card to midfielder Andrew Erickson, who was creating another chance for Virginia on offense. A few minutes later, the Broncs received another yellow card for chasing a ball out of bounds and yelling at the Cavaliers. This time, the penalty was called by junior midfielder Momo Diop.

In the 27th minute, the Broncs had their best chance in a long time – a free kick against Batrouni. But at just the right moment, Virginia’s defense closed down Rider. Two minutes later, the Broncs were denied another goal on another free kick attempt.

The Cavaliers later had a chance to score a third goal just a few yards away, but an offside call was made and the scoring opportunity was denied. Over the next few minutes, Virginia kept the pressure on Rider and scored a number of near goals.

The Broncs came close to scoring after about eight minutes, but Batrouni made an incredible save to keep his scoresheet clean. Play was then stopped briefly when Diop fell to the ground and remained lying there while several Rider players clamored for a foul, but after a short delay, no foul was called. Diop got up and continued playing, showing no signs of serious injury.

Complaints against the Bronc reached a fever pitch when second-year midfielder Ezra Punselie received a yellow card for excessive lobbying. The game would continue to be dominated by the Cavaliers, as Dang quickly scored his first career goal for Virginia, taking a 3-0 lead with six and a half minutes left.

Punselie was close to receiving a second yellow card when he yelled at a referee after Rider became upset about another indecision. His complaint was followed by a red card for Virginia freshman Alex Parvu, playing for the Cavaliers, ending his debut early.

However, Dang’s brace was the crowning glory, as coach George Gelnovatch then took out not only Dang but also the young midfielders and captains Albin Gashi and Umberto Pelà – which meant that the game was already decided four minutes before the end.

The Broncs’ last chance with less than two minutes left was thwarted by Batrouni and the game clock expired shortly thereafter. Virginia left the field with a comfortable 3-0 victory despite Rider’s aggressive effort.

The Cavaliers’ defense and midfield stood out Thursday, led by Dang, Mangarov and Weise. Dang in particular put in a strong performance in his first game as a member of the star-studded ACC.

“It feels great,” Dang said. “This team is just a family, a brotherhood like no other. It feels like we’re connected by blood. So it’s great to always have guys that you play with and you know they’re going to fight with you no matter what.”

Next up, the 1-0 Cavaliers will face Colgate at home to continue their impressive start to the season. The game begins at 7 p.m. Sunday and can be streamed on ACCNX.