The Virginia women's soccer team will face ACC rival Maryland tonight at Klockner Stadium. Although the Terrapins (5-3-1) seem to pose little threat to the No. 13 Cavaliers (7-2-1), Virginia is not taking the Terps lightly.
"I haven't been here a long time, but the ACC games I've been a part of have all been competitive and it doesn't matter who you are playing," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said.
The Cavalier players seem to echo their coach's sentiment.
"It's ACC, we know what they can do and we are ready for them to be good," senior forward Darci Borski said.
The Cavaliers already are 1-1 in the ACC, losing, 4-0, to Clemson on Sept. 29 and shutting out N.C. State, 2-0, on Sept. 19.
Since losing to Clemson, Virginia has not had much time to rest. The Cavaliers played three games last week, winning all of them. The last win came on a Laura Gaworecki goal against George Mason to put the Cavaliers up, 1-0.
Although the busy schedule has helped build momentum for the Cavaliers after their conference loss to the Tigers, it has cut into practice time. The team took Monday off to rest.
"Our first priority is to make sure the team is rested," Swanson said. "We haven't had the same quality training sessions because we're playing all the time. We have had to play a game then rest and play the next game."
Virginia is excited to play, despite its lack of rest.
"We'll be up for [the game] because it's home and it's ACC," freshman Lindsay Gusick said.
"We want to redeem ourselves [after the loss to Clemson] and we are all anxious to play Maryland," senior midfielder Ashley Meeker said.
While Virginia tries to redeem itself from its loss to Clemson, Maryland has last season's game in mind.
After starting the match with a two-goal lead on Oct. 6, 2000, the Terrapins let Virginia fight back into the game. Virginia won, 3-2, on a goal by Borski with about seven minutes left in the game.
"I hope [going behind early] doesn't happen this year," Meeker said.
The Terrapins only have beaten Virginia once since the two teams started playing each other 19 years ago. Virginia has won 16 of those matchups and tied twice.
Swanson knows that the past means nothing in this game.
"This is the kind of game that you throw your records out, roll up your sleeves, and get to work," he said.
Senior forward Lori Lindsey stayed after practice yesterday working on her free kicks.
She acknowledged, Maryland "is going to be a better team than last year."
Underneath the respectful talk, however, the Cavaliers have a clear confidence in their ability to beat Maryland.
"This one [Maryland] player has a long throw, but if we go out and play our game and play hard, we'll do fine," Lindsey said.
"It's more about us" than them, Gusick said.
Virginia still will be without Borski, who is listed as day-to-day, but will not be ready for tonight's game.
"It's been really hard to lose Darci, but luckily we have the depth this year. We've had to cope without her all year, and so it has been easier in that respect. But you always want to have a player the caliber of a Darci Borski," Swanson said.
One positive difference between the Virginia/Maryland matchup last season and the game this season is that this year Virginia plays on its home turf.
"It's nice to be able to sleep in your own bed," Swanson said. "Some places don't have a home field advantage - but here in Charlottesville, we do."
"Home games are always big for us," Meeker said. "Make sure everybody comes to the game"
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