The Virginia men's soccer team welcomes ACC rival Duke on Sunday in Klöckner Stadium at 1 p.m. This will be the second game of the Cavaliers' current seven-game home stand.
Virginia is coming off a solid 5-2 victory against Liberty University on Wednesday night. Junior forward Alecko Eskandarian recorded two goals and one assist in the contest. He leads the team with an impressive 17 goals.
Duke (9-3-1, 3-1 ACC) will prove to be a challenging foe for Virginia. The Blue Devils will try to prolong their three-game winning streak, which includes impressive victories against Campbell, N.C. State and Manhattan, all of which Duke won by at least two goals.
"They have a pretty good offense," Eskandarian said.
Virginia (7-5, 1-3 ACC), however, is 6-0 at home this year. The team hopes the home victory against Liberty signals a new attitude for the remainder of this season.
"We turned a corner," Virginia Coach George Gelnovatch said.
In order to make the rest of the season a success and try to contend for a championship, the Cavaliers must continue to play with intensity.
"We cannot lose the rest of the year," Eskandarian said.
The biggest problem for the Cavaliers this season has been their inability to take advantage of opponents' mistakes, and committing careless mistakes of their own. For example, tied 1-1 with Liberty, a ball deflected off a Virginia defenseman into the Virginia goal at 46:36. This put allowed Liberty to take the lead, albeit briefly.
"We're beating ourselves," Eskandarian said. "We know we're good enough."
The Cavaliers still have the firepower to be a high-scoring team, and now have the confidence to compete with ranked opponents. In addition, the match-up with Duke provides a certain emotional motivation.
"I hate Duke," Eskandarian said. "I feel like they're our biggest rival."
The rest of the team is excited and motivated as well. A shift in momentum has lifted the team out of moments in the season when there was little success.
"I am going to be livid and loving it," senior forward Ryan Gibbs said. "We have a score to settle."
Gibbs has recorded four goals this season, tied with senior forward Rob Wright for second best on the team. He also has four assists. Gibbs recorded both a goal and an assist Wednesday night against Liberty.
No. 18 Duke has received remarkable help from their freshmen. Blake Camp and Danny Kramer provided power for the win over Campbell University and Ian Carey helped in the victory over ACC rival N.C. State.
It will take a full effort from both Virginia and Duke for either to claim victory. But with the crowd at Klöckner Stadium acting as the twelfth man, Virginia remains optimistic for a victory.
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