The Virginia men's soccer team already avenged one of its postseason losses last year after beating Creighton, 3-2, on Sept. 9. Tomorrow Virginia will get a chance to get revenge for the other loss.
The second-ranked Cavaliers will face 13th-ranked North Carolina at Klockner Stadium tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The Tar Heels beat the Cavaliers 1-0 in the ACC final last year.
"Last year [North Carolina] took something away from us that we want back [ACC Championship] so we're going to get a lot of revenge, a lot of pride out of that game, just going in and trying to take care of them really early," Virginia junior midfielder Kyle Martino said.
The Cavaliers (4-0-1, 1-0 ACC) come into the game undefeated after winning their ACC opener 1-0 over Wake Forest on Monday. Sophomore forward Alecko Eskandarian scored the game's only goal, his ACC-leading fifth of the year, on a pass from Martino. The assist was Martino's conference-leading fifth of the season.
North Carolina (4-1) will be the third straight team ranked in the top 25 that Virginia has faced. With five ACC teams ranked, the Cavaliers' schedule does not look to get any easier.
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"Definitely when you have two ACC games back to back, that's right there something that gives you a lot of concern," Martino said. "Normally we're lucky that we'll get an ACC game and then, mid-week, we'll have, not an easy game, but an easier game, that's not going to be that demanding."
The Tar Heels will be opening their ACC schedule against the Cavaliers. North Carolina started the season ranked No. 12, but a 2-1 loss to No. 8 St. Louis on Sept. 9 dropped the Tar Heels in the polls. Dating back to last season, the Tar Heels have won 19 of their last 21.
However, North Carolina graduated five starters from last year's ACC championship team, but that does not necessarily mean a significant falloff in talent.
"They're very good," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "We know them very well, they obviously know us very well."
The Tar Heels will have to contain Eskandarian and Martino, currently first and second in the ACC in points. Martino has notched assists on three of Eskandarian's five goals this year. But North Carolina still features the same three starting defenders and goalkeeper that helped keep Virginia scoreless in the ACC final.
The Tar Heels are allowing only one goal per game, while Virginia has scored at least two goals against every team other than Wake Forest.
"North Carolina gives us a game every single year, and they're going to be physical, and they're going to be strong, and they're going to be good," Martino said.
Gelnovatch and the Cavaliers are happy the game is at home and hope it will translate into a significant advantage tomorrow night.
"We're definitely happy to be playing at home," Martino said. "Playing at their place is a hard atmosphere. They really get their fans involved, and hopefully our fans will be here to do it for us"
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