With the ACC tournament less than a week away, the Virginia women's soccer team knows it needs to seal its last two regular games with victory stamps.
The Cavaliers will roll into State College, Pa., to face Penn State tonight at 7 p.m., and return home to take on Tennessee Sunday at 1 p.m.
Ranked No. 1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the Nittany Lions are basking in an 11-game win streak and have lost only one home game this season. Last year the Nittany Lions downed the Cavs in a double overtime upset, but this season Virginia is determined to notch an upset of its own.
"Everyone is just so red-hot to beat Penn State," fifth-year defender Carryn Weigand said. "Obviously, every game for the rest of the season is crucial for us."
Though the outcome of the two games will not affect the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers still need to improve their record to secure a higher bid in the NCAA tournament. After dropping their last two ACC games to North Carolina and Wake Forest respectively, Virginia needs to put the loses behind them and concentrate on scoring.
"That's one thing about soccer that is so frustrating," Weigand said. "You can completely dominate a team and still lose. We know we have to put the ball away at every chance."
Cav Coach April Heinrichs said her team will not be affected by last week's losses.
"One thing this team does really well is respond to losses," Heinrichs said. "After Carolina and Wake Forest, people have been saying, 'You guys must be bumming.' Not really. We played some of our best soccer these past few games."
If Virginia maintains its strong level of play, the unranked Lady Volunteers should pose less of a threat Sunday. Though coming off a four-game winning streak of their own, Tennessee has posted a roller coaster season, landing them in the SEC cellar and securing a matchup against the No. 2 team in the SEC, Ole Miss, in the first round of the SEC tournament.
Heinrichs said she sees Sunday's contest as a chance to test her team's endurance.
"I think that's the key for us [against Tennessee] is playing well on a Sunday after a Friday game," she said. "We're still trying to prove to ourselves that we can not only play 45 minutes but play 90 minutes and put Tennessee away."
For Heinrichs the regular season has flown by, but as far as the tournament is concerned, she added that the team is not quite ready to pack it in.
"In previous years, I knew it was coming and we were going to make a big deal out of it and there was this finality to it," Heinrichs said. "I don't get a sense from anyone that they realize that Sunday's our last [regular season] game. We're just hitting our stride and we're not even close to sensing that the season's over"
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