The No. 3 Virginia men's soccer team takes to the road for the first time this season to face N.C. State in yet another grudge match for the Cavaliers. The game is Sunday at 2 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C.
Although the Cavaliers (5-0-1) are ranked No. 3 in the nation, and despite the Wolfpack's troubled start this season, it is a game that the Cavalier coaching staff and players are taking seriously.
The Wolfpack has lost five of its six games this season, but Virginia has been unable to beat N.C. State in Raleigh for six years.
Sunday's game promises to be yet another chance for revenge for the Cavaliers, who have had a season full of such grudge matches thus far. On Sept. 9, Virginia defeated Creighton, the team to which it lost in last year's NCAA tournament. Wednesday, the Cavaliers shut out in-state rival William & Mary, a team they had not beaten since George Gelnovatch took over as head coach.
"We're just taking them one by one and knocking them down," junior forward Ryan Gibbs said.
Gelnovatch views the N.C. State game as yet another obstacle for his team.
"It's another challenge," Gelnovatch said. "It's been six years since we last won at N.C. State ... We just talked about it - it's the next hump we get over - down at N.C. State."
Junior midfielder Kyle Martino, who scored the game-winning goal in Wednesday's match, knows that it won't be easy to beat a team doing even as poorly as the Wolfpack.
Of Virginia's No. 3 national ranking, Martino noted, "Those things are good to talk about, good for a little smile, but I don't think that we judge ourselves and how we are doing on how we are ranked in the country."
Martino himself is fourth in the nation in assists per game. However, the Cavaliers' leading scorer, sophomore forward Alecko Eskandarian, is still questionable for the game. Eskandarian, who is 14th in the nation in goals per game, sat out Wednesday's match with a minor injury.
"Eskandarian is day by day," Gelnovatch remarked. "We'd like to think we'll have [him] ready for Sunday - that's our goal."
Despite the difficulties of playing at N.C. State, the Cavaliers seem confident in their ability to win Sunday's game.
"We really want to play them, we really want to be 3-0 in the ACC," Gibb said.
"N.C. State is one of those places that's hard to play at, it's hard to go there and get a win," Martino asserted. "Hopefully we can get that bye [with a first place finish in the ACC] in the ACC Tournament ... I think that this game is going to help us get closer to that goal."
The Wolfpack will be hard- pressed to put up a fight against the Cavaliers. N.C. State's leading scorers have only two goals each so far this season.
Only red-shirt junior midfielder Michael Karim has a game-winning goal for the Wolfpack, and he is coming off of an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2000 season.
N.C. State even lost it's own Wolfpack Classic tournament, getting shut out by Northeastern, 2-0, and losing to Massachusetts, 2-1.
The Cavaliers are not letting the Wolfpack's difficulties go to their heads. By focusing on its own past difficulties against N.C. State, Virginia is taking the right attitude to Raleigh. The Cavaliers are humble, hungry and ready to take revenge.
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