Blue Orange Game

It was brother versus brother last night as the UVa men's soccer team divided into blue and orange teams with the Orange team prevailing 3-1 in front of several hundred die-hard fans at Klockner stadium. Here are the starting lineups for the 2 teams.

Orange:

• Kirk Dinnal (F)
• Zola Short (F)
• Jeremy Barlow (MF)
• Joe Vide (MF)
• Sean Hinkle (MF)
• Zane Hill (MF)
• Hunter Freeman (D)
• Ian Holder (D)
• Matt Oliver (D)
• John Hartman (D)
• Ryan Burke (GK)

Blue:

• Adam Cristman (F)
• Paul Johnson (F)
• Drew Harrison (MF)
• Nico Colaluca (MF)
• Mike Littlefield (MF)
• Will Hall (MF)
• Chris Mein (D)
• Chefik Simo (D)
• Jeff Tuman (D)
• Matt Williams (D)

It appears that coach Gelnovatch matched a more offensive Blue squad against the first string defensive team. Given this dynamic the first half was predictable with the Orange team not giving up many chances until late in the period and scoring on 2 ugly sequences. The first goal was officially credited as an own-goal and while the second goal was credited to Sean Hinkle, it too appeared to be an own goal. The third Orange goal was scored late in the second half by Joe Vide who was the beneficiary of a very nice run along the end line by first year player Chris Tierney who beat the goal keeper and tapped the ball to Vide for the easy finish. The Blue goal was an impressive penetrating attack and finish from the left side by first year player Nico Colaluca.

Some of the new players were very impressive. Jeremy Barlow consistently looked comfortable with the ball at his feet taking on defenders and finding open players. Colaluca scored a beautiful goal and showed some real flashes dribbling past defenders. The problem I see with Barlow and Colaluca is that they are small (Barlow is listed at 5'-7" and Colaluca at 5'-9"). Against big physical ACC teams they may have trouble. I think Kirk Dinnal, who is a similar type of player, had matchup problems last year. Matt Williams looked very solid in the back on the right side, but will have some difficulty cracking the starting lineup behind some very solid veteran defenders. Chefik Simo, who is listed as a midfielder, but started in the back looked very solid defending.

Gelnovatch continues to swap forwards and defenders. Paul Johnson moved back to the forward position and Ian Holder moved from striker to defender. Holder seemed to play better as the game wore on - he was badly beaten by Colaluca on the Blue goal - while Johnson didn't make much impact in the front other than a whale of a free kick that cracked off the crossbar.

Mike Littlefield moved from forward to midfield and was amazing in the air. I think he won just about every header he contested.

I am still not impressed with Joe Vide. He obviously is a skilled soccer player, but makes some bad decisions which sometimes result in booting the ball 50 yards over the goal. He has yet to live up to the hype that he came into the program with.

Matt Oliver is the best player on the team. He is rock steady in defense and should contend for some post-season honors. John Hartman also appears to be as good as ever. He makes some very smart offensive runs and was responsible for the events which led to the first Blue own-goal.

Will Hall is a player that I expect good things from. Last night he didn't really stand out, though.

It was great to be back in Klockner watching UVa soccer last night. A cold-front had come through Charlottesville earlier and as the sun set and the sounds of soccer filled the evening fall didn't seem very far away.