CARY, N.C. -- After a physical match Wednesday night against No. 5 seed Duke, the Cavaliers will face No. 1 seed Wake Forest tonight in an attempt to secure their spot in the ACC finals.
While the Demon Deacons may be the favorite in the match seeding-wise, they struggled in their first game against No. 8 Virginia Tech, only managing to defeat the Hokies in overtime.
Although the Cavaliers did not have the same luck against the Hokies, they did defeat Wake Forest in Winston Salem early in the regular season.
"I'm sure they want a piece of us," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "We were at their place last time and beat them. They're a very good team -- the first place team in the conference -- and we know they're going to come at us, and we're just going to play."
Wake Forest won the regular season conference title by earning a 5-2 ACC record. Virginia's conference record is 4-3, but the Cavaliers lead the Demon Deacons in overall season record with a 14-4 mark over Wake's 12-4.
Virginia's regular season win at Wake Forest marked one of the multiple times this season Virginia was able to come back from a deficit to win against a strong opponent. Allowing the Demon Deacons to get an early lead tonight, however, is a whole different story since the intensity of post-season play is noticeably heightened.
In addition to the ability to strike first, the ability to play smart despite strong emotions also will be an important factor in determining a winner in this match. In the last meeting between the rivals, there were 33 fouls called and seven yellow cards issued. Physicality is inevitable in such a heated contest, but unnecessary fouls in dangerous locations can cost a team the game. Gelnovatch has faith, however, that both teams will be able to put their emotions aside and focus on soccer.
"I think both teams will come out and not get all worked up about what we're doing, and we're both going to play our games," Gelnovatch said. "Both teams are good enough, and I think it'll be a good one."
A win tonight would push the Cavaliers into a game they know and love -- the ACC final. Virginia has advanced to the final match in 14 of the 17 ACC tournaments and has the best ACC tournament record in the conference (26-9-5). While Gelnovatch thinks that making it to the finals is self-perpetuating -- doing it each year makes it an expectation for the next year -- senior Mike Littlefield thinks it is a little more personal.
"I think it's team unity [that has allowed the team to be so successful]," Littlefield said. "Everyone understands their role and the concept of a team has been crucial."
A loss to Wake would break the Cavaliers' five-year streak of appearances in the championship and dash their hopes of defending their ACC title.
While the Cavaliers undoubtedly hope for the same result as last year, they are going about it in a very different way. Virginia won the tournament in 2003 despite scoring only one goal in all three games combined -- the other goal credited to Virginia in the tournament was off a Clemson own-goal. Two of the games were decided in penalty kicks.
In one tournament game alone this season, the Cavaliers have scored three times that number.
One year older and more experienced, with just enough new blood, Virginia will try to create the offensive opportunities it lacked in the final rounds of the tournament last year to overcome the Demon Deacons and advance to the championship.
Read More
'The Måns Dahlberg show' is kicking into gear, just in time for Virginia’s title chase
By Thomas Baxter | 15 hours agoHe's one man during the first few months of the season, quite another in the final two.
TILOCK: The real Virginia baseball just stood up
By Xander Tilock | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers' chronic issues are dwindling, and underperforming stars are ascending.
Dietrich’s comeback clincher sends No. 7 seed men’s tennis to NCAA quarterfinals
By Margaret Piatos | 2 days agoFor the 18th time in 20 years, Virginia is headed to the quarterfinals.
