With the Cavaliers having reached the midpoint of their conference schedule, now is an excellent time to assess and reflect upon Virginia's season thus far. The Cavaliers have posted a 9-1-2 record, including an unblemished 4-0 conference mark. They sit alone atop the ACC standings and are ranked No. 4 in the most recent Soccer America rankings.
The road for the Cavaliers, however, has not been an easy one. Even for the most superior teams, the collegiate soccer season is a treacherous stream strewn with jagged boulders. Virginia has displayed a remarkable ability to handle such adversity in a positive manner.
The Cavaliers have proven themselves to be particularly adept at handling the pressure of playing in hostile road environments. Virginia has notched an impressive 3-1-1 road record, including conference wins at Boston College and Clemson and a 0-0 tie with 2004 National Championship runner-up Santa Barbara. In all three of these intense games, the Cavaliers displayed a level of grit found only among elite teams. The BC and Clemson games were the most illustrative of the depth of this team's character.
Virginia traveled to Chestnut Hill on the heels of a devastating 3-0 Wednesday night road loss to Old Dominion. It would have been understandable if the Cavaliers had experienced a hangover effect in the Saturday night contest with then-No. 21 BC. In my eyes, it was clear that Virginia stood at an early-season crossroads. A loss at BC could have easily sent Virginia down a road of mediocrity.
The Cavaliers, however, came out fighting and battled back from two deficits to earn a contentious 4-3 victory over the Eagles.
(By the way, it is ludicrous that BC is a member of the ACC. Boston is not ACC country. A school in a place where temperatures drop into the low 40s in September should not be in a conference founded by the Tobacco Road institutions of North Carolina. I only packed shorts and two polo shirts for the trip to BC and consequently could not feel any part of my body by halftime. Luckily, two BC media relations officials felt bad enough for this dumb Southerner by the second half to lend me a sweatshirt and ripped sweatpants.)
This past weekend saw Virginia gain perhaps its most emotional win of the season. Slogging through the mud on fatigued legs, Virginia secured a 1-0 road victory over Clemson on a goal by Yannick Reyering in the second overtime period. Reyering leads the team with nine goals and should merit some serious consideration for a freshman All-America team selection.
Along with the poor playing conditions and a scrappy Clemson team, the Cavaliers also had to deal with a classless Clemson crowd. I have attended hundreds of collegiate sporting events throughout my life, and I have never witnessed fan behavior as atrocious, vindictive and shameful in nature than I have in my two experiences at Clemson. That is saying a lot considering I grew up going to Maryland basketball games at Cole Field House and then the Comcast Center.
Virginia now faces a critical two-game stretch in its schedule. The Cavs host No. 10 Duke Sunday and then travel to College Park for a Wednesday evening matchup with the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins. If Virginia wins both of these contests (Virginia's two other remaining conference games are a home contest against Virginia Tech and an away matchup at Wake Forest), the Cavaliers will have an excellent shot at attaining the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament that begins Nov. 8.
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