Photo courtesy of the University of Virginia

Virginia soccer goalkeeper Diego Restrepo is living proof that second marriages sometimes work better than the first.

One year ago at this time, Restrepo was an unhappy soccer player and Virginia was an unhappy soccer team, having lost to visiting Connecticut 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's soccer championships.

At least the Cavaliers took the field.

Restrepo, then a University of South Florida sophomore, stood on the sideline as the Bulls lost to Wake Forest 5-0 with a trip to the NCAA semifinals on the line.

"I was on a roller-coaster," Restrepo said. "I was also having family problems at the time. It was the low point of my life."

In an odd twist, Wake Forest hired USF goalie coach Bo Oshoniyi during the offseason. Meanwhile, Restrepo transferred to Virginia.

The Cavaliers and Deacons already have played twice this season and will meet for the third time today at 5 p.m. [ESPN2] in Cary, N.C., at the College Cup. Both NCAA semifinalists are 17-3-3.

"I'm not looking for payback," said Restrepo, who has not given up a goal in two UVa victories over the Deacons, "but there's always motivation to show him he made a bad decision. You couldn't ask for a better stage than the College Cup."

As a freshman, Restrepo started 20 of 22 games for the Bulls, who finished 14-6-2. Last year, former back-up Jeff Attinella got the nod and Restrepo started only three times for a 15-5-3 Bulls team.

"By halfway through the season, I told my older brother [Alfonso] to start looking," said Restrepo, who moved to the Miami area from Colombia when he was 13.

Virginia had a No. 1 goalie with one year's eligibility remaining, Michael Giallombardo, but Giallombardo had redshirted early in his career and was on schedule to graduate in May.

"He already had a job lined up," Virginia head coach George Gelnovatch said. "We knew he might not be back this year, but the situation with Diego was unrelated. He kind of fell into our lap."

Gelnovatch was aware of Restrepo from spring games and exhibitions Virginia had played against USF, but nothing prepared him for what the future would hold.

Restrepo has started 22 of 23 games for the Cavaliers and has a Division I-best 0.29 goals-against average, with 15 shutouts. Restrepo has posted 11 consecutive shutouts and has not given up a goal in more than 1,100 minutes.

"Sometimes, I feel like I've got angels in my goal," said Restrepo, who acknowledged the role of the whole defense in his remarkable streak.

There is a market for transfers in Division I that is particularly busy in January and then later in May and early June.

Restrepo said "the best thing that could have happened to him" was being able to enroll at UVa last January.

"I'd never been through a winter," he said.

"At the beginning, it was tough, but it was a great experience because I got used to the weather, my teammates, the culture. I was coming from Miami, where everything was bigger, compared to Charlottesville."

College teams are allowed to play six-to-seven practice games in the spring, which was another benefit to Restrepo's midyear enrollment

"Coach Gelnovatch was very straightforward with me and I liked that," Restrepo said.

"He told me, 'I'm not going to give you anything.' It's hard to find coaches like that nowadays."

Restrepo had no contact with the Cavaliers in high school, when one of his finalists was Maryland, a 3-0 Virginia victim Friday in the NCAA quarterfinals.

UVa had two goaltenders at the time and, besides, USF had a good program.

"Obviously, playing in the Big East, you don't want to accept the fact that the ACC is the top conference," he said.

Now he does. As Restrepo hastened to point out, three of the four teams in the College Cup are from the ACC, including North Carolina, which meets Akron at 7:30 tonight.

"Of all the ACC schools, Virginia is probably the most prestigious in [men's] soccer," he said. "The last 10 years, I think 49 [UVa] players have gone pro."

Spectators at Friday's game included Bruce Arena, head coach of Major League Soccer's L.A. Galaxy. Arena was the head coach at Virginia when the Cavaliers won four national championships between 1991-94 and also has coached the U.S. National Team and U.S. Olympic Team.

"When he walked into our locker room after the game, I was dumfounded," Restrepo said.

"If I'd known beforehand, it would have gotten me nervous. I was shocked that he was here, but that's another thing that's special about this place."