In a still-early season that already has had its share of highs and lows, the Virginia women's soccer team looks to carry the momentum of their latest victory into this weekend's William & Mary Nike Tribe Invitational in Williamsburg.
The No. 16 Cavaliers (2-2-1) will battle in-state foes George Mason (2-3) today at noon and William & Mary (4-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m.
"Any time Virginia plays any in-state team it's always a very hotly contested game, and I think this time it will be even more so," Virginia Coach Steve Swanson said. "GMU is always difficult, they always come out physically and play hard, and William & Mary is always such a big rivalry for us."
The Cavaliers are fresh off a victory against defending Ivy League champion Dartmouth on Sunday, which snapped a three-game winless streak and brought the team's record back to .500.
The win, however, tailed a surprising loss to West Virginia two days before, causing the Cavaliers to slip six spots in the national rankings and to fall out of the top 10.
Recovering quickly from the loss, Virginia had a particularly strong performance in Sunday's game. They led for most of the contest and outshot the Big Green 20 shots to eight. The Cavaliers also had an astounding 13 corner kicks to a measly one for Dartmouth. Despite the decisive victory, the team did see plenty of room for improvement.
"We just want to continue the winning streak, now that we've won a game, so hopefully we're going to work in practice on once we get the ball, relaxing and playing our game," said Kelly Worden, senior defender and team captain. "We're such a possession-oriented team and it hasn't really shown in the past two games."
Swanson stressed the need to plug up holes in the defense that have been plaguing the Cavaliers in their previous games.
"I think defensively, we're still leaking goals," Swanson said. "I look back on the goals we've given up, and there's a lot of mistakes we've made and we need to sort those things out."
Despite their defensive struggles, Swanson said the team has been using its depth to its advantage.
In addition to the 11 starters, Swanson played seven players off the bench during the team's game against Dartmouth.
Surprisingly, Virginia's leading scorer, senior forward Alyssa Benitez, has yet to start a game.
"It makes it harder for our team to get into a rhythm, but on the other hand I feel like our depth is a great strength of ours, and I feel very comfortable using a lot of players," Swanson said.
Although Swanson emphasized that neither of the teams will be pushovers, William & Mary should prove to be a more formidable opponent, especially given the intense history between the two teams.
The game against the Tribe will be a rematch of last spring's contest in the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament -- a game in which Virginia ended William & Mary's season by handing them a 4-1 defeat.
"They're rough games because they always want to knock off Virginia," Worden said. "We know they're going to come out hard, so we're going to try and match that and come out just as hard."
As the Cavaliers look to build on their latest victory in what has started out as a roller coaster season, this weekend's games should prove to be challenging tests before Virginia opens its ACC schedule at home against Clemson on Sept. 28.
With wins this weekend, Virginia would soar into conference play with momentum
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