Following up a crushing road conference loss is no simple task, but for the 11th-ranked Virginia men’s soccer team, a cancellation and a week off may provide the rest needed to bounce back.
The Cavaliers (5-1-2, 1-1-1 ACC) welcome ACC rival Louisville (4-3-3, 0-0-3 ACC) on Friday night in what is shaping up to be one of the sloppiest games Klöckner Stadium has seen in recent memory, with meteorologists calling for nearly three inches of rain on game night.
“If it’s that much, our game plan might [change],” senior midfielder Todd Wharton said. “Me personally, I like playing in the rain. I’m going to have fun doing it, you just have to take it as it is, you can’t help it.”
To further complicate Friday’s pre-long weekend matchup, Virginia will be dealing with a strong, but unpredictable, Cardinals team. This season, the preseason Atlantic Division favorites have tied three times in conference, beaten then-No.15 Kentucky and lost to a sub-.500 Ohio State team.
“We know they’re a good team,” Wharton said, “[and] coach [George Gelnovatch] has said that they’re a lot like us so it should be a good, entertaining game.”
Louisville is led by freshman forward Tate Schmitt, who has burst on to the collegiate scene and currently leads the ACC in goals, with six. To deal with that — as well as find answers for their 3-1 defeat last week at Notre Dame — the Cavaliers will need to make numerous adjustments.
“Playing more as a team…[and] getting back defensively [are key],” Wharton said. “I think we’ve given up too many shots in recent games, and obviously three goals in one is never going to be beneficial to you so once we tighten down defensively we’ll be a little more efficient going forward.”
That defeat — Virginia’s first of the season — was a bit of a wakeup call, as the team struggled with effort and discipline, with a lack of concentration eventually being the nail in the coffin.
“Unfortunately, there was a red card and things went a little downhill after that,” freshman midfielder Derrick Etienne said, “but we take away the little things, the things we can learn from a loss, and we…work on those things in training so that won’t happen again.”
Though it is often best to work in practice after a loss, the Cavaliers were slotted to square off in a midweek matchup with George Washington on Tuesday, which likely would have been good for their confidence as the Colonials are 3-5 in the Atlantic 10. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans and Virginia was forced to cancel the game.
“It was a letdown, we look forward to playing every game,” Etienne said. “When it’s cancelled we’re upset, but it gives us more time to prepare for the game on Friday, and we’re looking forward to that one.”
Friday’s matchup with Louisville will allow Gelnovatch to once again utilize his arsenal of freshman talent in dynamic ways, integrating them into a system and program that, just 10 months ago, produced a national champion.
Leading that group is the highly touted freshman forward Edward Opoku, whose play has produced numerous chances but no goals. Etienne and fellow freshman midfielder Jean-Christophe Koffi have each scored a goal and are gaining an increasing presence in the Cavaliers’ counter-attack-style offense.
“Learning a new system, playing in college, it’s kind of different, it’s a lot more physical,” Etienne said. “We’re coming along, I think the team is really making strides in getting into the full swing of things and I think we’ll be looking strong coming into the ACC tournament.”
While the ACC tournament is the end goal, the Cavaliers will first have to jump over their next hurdle, or puddle, on Friday night under the lights at Klöckner Stadium against the Cardinals.
“If the ball is getting stopped from puddles then you’ll have to play more direct to get it out of your own end,” Wharton said, “because you’re not going to be able to work it up from the back. I’ll definitely try to play regular but if we have to be more direct we will.”
Game time is 7 p.m.
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