What is it about rivalry that changes games -- changes teams for that matter?
Dictionary.com defines a rival as "one who attempts to equal or surpass another, or who pursues the same object as another; a competitor." By that definition, wouldn't every opponent a team played be a rival? Despite this all-encompassing definition, there is something in every athlete and every fan that makes it possible to not only identify a true rival but light some sort of fire and ignite any given contest.
For years people have laughed about the fact that when it comes to the Virginia vs. Virginia Tech football game, all expectations go out the window. Rankings, records, numbers all mean nothing when measured up against the power of that rivalry. While maybe not as drastically true for the Virginia men's soccer team, rivalry still plays an incredible role in shaping any given game, especially against conference foes.
It is impossible to explain why playing another ACC team makes it easier for the Cavaliers to run faster, connect more passes, take better shots (and more of them) and win every 50-50 ball.
Saturday night against N.C. State, Virginia took 19 shots and 11 corner kicks, but no statistic can capture the difference between the Cavaliers in a rivalry matchup and the Cavaliers in any other game.
Sitting amongst the 1,775 unusually animated fans Saturday night, I tried to figure out why the players on both teams wanted to win that game, or any conference match, so badly.
Perhaps it is because when you lose to an ACC opponent, you hear about it -- for a long time. Pretty much any Virginia student, soccer players included, knows somebody at some ACC school who is just dying to heckle them at the first opportunity (don't you love your friends?).
Maybe it is because between rivals, there is always revenge to be had. Even if you won the last game, there is almost always a painful loss not far from the forefront of your mind.
Maybe it is just that since the second you set foot onto this campus, it has been drilled into your head to hate the conference enemies.
Whatever the reason, rivalries make everything better. Saturday night's crowd was not the usual combination of SOCA teams, Charlottesville locals and players' roommates. In addition to the usual spectators, Klöckner was filled with genuinely excited Virginia fans, who stayed into the game until the final whistle. And soccer is not always a game that keeps a crowd riled up.
But it is not hard for a crowd to stay excited when the players are excited. Freshman Nico Colaluca got fans on their feet several times with his fancy footwork and fast-paced attacks. Sophomore Adam Cristman's header into the back of the net to give Virginia its first lead was noteworthy enough that one fan remarked "that header was awesome" a good 15 minutes after it happened.
But it was not just the normal fan-favorites who garnered special attention. Almost everyone on the field looked like they wanted the ball and were willing to get a little down and dirty to get it. It's not every day you see a goalie ejected from the game for chest-bumping an opponent to the ground with the ball far from the scene (ahem, ahem, N.C. State keeper Jorge Gonzalez).
Too bad every game can't be as exciting as a conference game. But then again, if they were, maybe each would lose that intangible quality that makes it nothing short of a great rivalry.
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