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Thanks for playing; we have some lovely parting gifts for you

You may spend Sunday afternoon sleeping until three. You may spend it parked in front of the NFL on CBS or nursing the previous night's hangover. But four Virginia women's soccer players will spend Sunday afternoon attempting to fend off the end of their prolific Cavalier careers.

It's sad, really. A distinguished four-year run in the orange and blue could end ingloriously on a penalty kick or a misplayed clear. In that spirit, I'm accepting donations for gifts for this Cav quartet, consolation prizes in the relatively likely event their careers fall short of a national title. Here's what I have in mind:

Fourth-year striker Angela Hucles: a spot on the U.S. national team

They're awfully hard to come by, especially at the forward position, but Hucles deserves a legitimate shot at a place alongside Mia Hamm. She got a tryout two years ago, but it's high time for another chance.

Hucles is the Thomas Jones of women's soccer: always a bridesmaid but never a bride when it comes to the big awards. She set the Virginia records for goals and points in a career at the beginning of her third year and is a perennial candidate for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer's MVP award. But she's always good enough to get nominated, never good enough to win.

Realistically, Hucles plays the wrong position. National title contenders like Santa Clara and North Carolina always have at least one superstar forward that gets more press than she does. The U.S. team is crowded up top as well, with young bloods like Cindy Parlow and Danielle Fotopoulos waiting to take over for Hamm and her ilk, but it'd be nice to see Hucles get her due.

Fifth-year striker Jill Maxwell: a new pair of knees and a chance to start her career over

I have to be honest. Last season, I couldn't figure out what Jill Maxwell - better known as Max - was doing out there with the first unit. Hucles glided around defenders and effortlessly juked goalkeepers to the ground, while Max kept getting knocked off the ball by faster, bigger opponents.

I have come to the conclusion that it must have been the knees. Maxwell's Virginia career didn't begin until halfway through her second year because of a torn right ACL. The left one popped near the end of her third year, turning her fourth year into the aforementioned mix of tentative and ineffective play.

Max is a fellow Boston-area native, so I was rooting for her to finish her career on the proverbial high note, but I wasn't expecting her to lead the team with a career-best 10 goals.

She still isn't a speed demon, but Max has a great talent for squeezing passes through opposing defenses and always is willing to surrender herself to draw a foul or a penalty kick. Several of her goals have come on headers off of corner kicks - not bad for someone with no discernible vertical leap. I wonder what she could've done with good knees.

Fifth-year defender Carryn Weigand: a volunteer assistant coaching job

It's no coincidence that Weigand is a graduate student in the Curry School of Education. She might see herself leading a classroom of kids instead of a team of soccer players next year, but the world of coaching - if it's smart - should be calling her.

I can't explain Weigand's impact with statistics; soccer defense doesn't work that way. She's not that fast, but she always knows where she's supposed to be - and where opposing forwards shouldn't be. Cavalier Coach April Heinrichs says Weigand has one of the biggest hearts of anyone she's ever coached. That's Heinrichs' ultimate compliment; talent and skill are obvious prerequisites, but heart counts most.

Weigand spent last season on the sideline with a torn ACL, but that gave her an extra year to help younger defenders like Brooke Stastny, Ashley Meeker and Tammy Westinghouse evolve into starters. She can do the same once she hangs up the cleats.

Fourth-year goalkeeper Megan Boehm: a full-time starting job

Boehm won't be playing Sunday. She's out for at least another week after breaking her right thumb warming up for the Wake Forest game Oct. 24. Of course, the odds are pretty slim that Boehm would have been starting in the NCAA Tournament even if she was healthy.

I'm not sure what has happened in goal for the Cavaliers over the past two years. Boehm was a two-time All-ACC first-teamer, but she was sidelined by appendicitis surgery and her former understudy, third-year Julie Harris, basically has outplayed her since then. Boehm, who was one of the nation's finest goalkeepers during her first two years, spent this season platooning with Harris.

Harris is playing the best soccer of her Cavalier career at this point, but it'd be nice if Boehm could finish her career on the field, instead of sitting on the bench, trying to clap for her teammates with a cast on her hand.

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