Ownby scores in 3rd minute of OT as Virginia beats Wake Forest 2-1 in College Cup semifinals

Ownby scores in OT as Virginia beats Wake Forest

CARY, N.C. — Brian Ownby scored in the third minute of overtime to help Virginia defeat Wake Forest 2-1 on Friday night in the NCAA men’s College Cup semifinals.

Ownby entered the game as a substitute late in the second half. He ran down the middle of the field to control a long feed from Jonathan Villanueva, split a pair of Wake Forest defenders and popped the ball over goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald for the game-ending goal.

Virginia will play top-seeded Akron or No. 5 seed North Carolina in Sunday’s championship.

The No. 2 seed Cavaliers (18-3-3) got past the third-seeded Demon Deacons (17-4-3) for the third time in three meetings between the ACC rivals this season. Virginia eliminated Wake Forest on this field in the ACC tournament quarterfinals Nov. 13, winning 5-4 on penalty kicks.

Tony Tchani scored in the 55th minute to give Virginia the lead, and Wake Forest’s Corben Bone responded in the 70th minute with the equalizer.

Tchani’s goal came on an assist from Villanueva. Fitzgerald dived to his left to save a blast from him just inside the box, and Tchani drove the rebound into the top part of the net for his eighth goal of the season.

As was the case in the first two meetings, the Demon Deacons struggled to solve Virginia’s nation-leading defense. Virginia goalkeeper Diego Restrepo was on his way to his 16th shutout of the season before Bone made something out of nothing.

He dribbled along the end line to the left of the goal, keeping control of the ball and in bounds just inches away from the stripe. Bone flipped a right-footed shot off Restrepo that deflected into the net for his third goal of the season.