Cavalier Corner

October 2022

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24 CAVALIER CORNER BY QUINN HULL H olden Brown was always going to be the goalkeeper for the Indiana men's soccer team. Growing up in Bloomington, Ind., around one of the most prestigious men's soccer pro- grams in the country, it was not only Brown's dream to play for the Hoosiers but the un- derstanding of Division I coaches across the country that it would become a reality. Brown was about to make that reality happen, but just before he was ready to verbally commit to Indiana, he decided to reach out to a handful of other programs at the request of his mother, a UVA graduate. After contacting multiple different pro- grams, a trend started to develop — coaches around the nation were shocked to learn that Brown was not yet fully committed to joining his hometown team. Brown then sent an email to Virginia and was met with a response in just 10 minutes asking to speak over the phone. By the end of his recruiting process, Brown did end up committing to one of the most prestigious men's soccer programs in the country, but instead of stay- ing home in Indiana he was headed to Char- lottesville to play for the Virginia Cavaliers. "I wanted to go away and challenge myself a bit and prove myself in a different place," Brown said. He would indeed have plenty to prove upon his arrival in Charlottesville. In the fall of 2020, Virginia was coming off an appearance in the national cham- pionship game and looking to replace All-American goalkeeper Colin Shutler, who posted a goals-against-average of .530 with 15 shutouts in the 2019 season. Brown was met with plenty of adversity in his first season at Virginia. The COVID-19 pandemic as well as a pair of injuries com- plicated things for him, but after spending a season on the sideline, Brown was called upon to become the starter for the Cavaliers in 2021. "I became the starter and was more ner- vous than you can imagine," he said. "The rest of the season, every single game, I was just scared out of my mind I would concede." The pressure placed on the young goal- keeper over the course of the 2021 season was immense. Virginia also was looking to reload offensively. The Cavaliers struggled to score on a consistent basis after the depar- ture of star forward Daryl Dike. The competi- tive, low-scoring games that resulted ampli- fied the importance of each save Brown was called upon to make. Despite his nerves in his first year as a starter, he produced numbers in goal that were impressive. Brown's 86 total saves ranked fourth in the NCAA, while his saves per-game average of 4.78 led the ACC, one of the nation's premier conferences in men's soccer. He also ranked second in the ACC with an impressive save percentage of .761. A goalkeeper's stat line is unique to every other position on the field, and with one season under his belt, Brown was putting up excellent numbers in each category. How- ever, what matters most to him is the win- loss record, which after 2021 sat at 6-9-3. "I like personal accolades," Brown said. "But because we lost so many games, I was just negative about my season." Following what he perceived to be a disappointing season individually, Brown traveled to Boston for the summer where he competed for Seacoast United in USL League Two. There, he split time in goal with Jassem Koleilat of New Hampshire, who en- tered the 2022 college season as a mem- ber of the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list. Individually, Brown allowed just 3 goals on the season while recording a save percent- age of .870. Seacoast United did not lose a single game in which Brown started. The added experience in the offsea- son proved to be monumental in growing Brown's confidence. With more time in goal and a successful campaign with his club team, he began to approach the game with a different attitude. "I was able to look back on [2021] and read some of the statistics that I had and think, 'Wow, that's not too bad,' after a couple of months removed from the season. And then knowing how good Koleilat was, and hearing people telling me that I can measure up with him was a reassuring feeling." Now in his second season between the pipes for the Cavaliers, Brown is playing with a new-found confidence. However, the task of lifting a program as prestigious as Virginia back to the national stage remains on the table for him and his teammates. The Cavaliers look to return to the NCAA Tourna- ment for the first time since its streak of 39 consecutive appearances came to an end in 2020. The kid from Indiana has now grown and progressed into a leader on the current Virginia squad, and he believes that his ap- proach to the pressure of high expectations is shared by his teammates. "We used to be scared of that pressure — that we have to win because we are Virginia, and there's a history of winning here. Now we're inviting it," he said. NEW-FOUND CONFIDENCE Holden Brown's Summer Club Performances Have Him Ready To Compete Brown, a third-year goalkeeper on the men's soccer team, aims to help the Cavaliers return to the NCAA Tournament this season after an uncharacteristic two-year hiatus. (Photo courtesy UVA) " We used to be scared of that pressure — that we have to win because we are Virginia, and there's a history of winning here. Now we're inviting it." BROWN

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