This is a notice to all Virginia sports fans: get your tailgates ready. This weekend the women's soccer team will host the highly anticipated and always exciting Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. This year's tournament will feature top-rated programs such as Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and, of course, Virginia.
The Cavaliers will take on Colorado Friday at 7 p.m. and will then play Arizona Sunday at 1 p.m.
Virginia is hopeful that its home-field advantage will allow it to come out of the Classic with two quality wins.
"Anytime we play at home it is a welcome situation," Virginia Coach Steve Swanson said. "It's a place we've been very successful at."
The Cavaliers are coming off a tough trip to California last weekend. Virginia was defeated by the then-ranked No. 5 Stanford Cardinals 2-1; the Cavaliers played then-ranked No. 8 Santa Clara to a scoreless tie Sunday. Though the trip out West did not provide the results the Cavaliers were looking for, it did prove that Virginia can play with the best teams in the country.
Despite facing such quality competition last weekend in California, the Cavaliers are looking forward to returning to the comforts of Klöckner Stadium.
"It's always great to play at home," senior Shannon Foley said. "Everything is much more comfortable. It's important to play away games but there is nothing better than playing at home."
Virginia will now turn to face Colorado Friday night. The matchup with the Buffaloes will likely be the most difficult game of the weekend for the Cavaliers. Colorado comes into the game with a 2-0-2 record and a No. 19 national ranking. The Buffaloes have posted wins over Denver and Utah and have drawn games with Fairfield and BYU.
"Colorado has had a lot of success, especially in the last two years," Foley said. "They are looking forward to a big year."
Friday's game between Virginia and Colorado is the first matchup between the two squads. Given that both teams are relatively unfamiliar with the other, the outcome of Friday's game is unpredictable.
"We don't know what to expect from Colorado because we've never played them before," Foley said. "But they are not a team to be taken lightly."
The Cavaliers will then face Arizona Sunday. While the Wildcats are currently unranked this season, they are coming off quality wins and are deemed by many to be an underrated program. Arizona has a 3-1 record and boasts wins over California Polytechnic Institute, Nevada and No. 7-ranked Texas.
Swanson is very familiar with the brand of soccer played in the Pac-10 not only because of a recent game against No. 1 Stanford, but also as a result of his past coaching experience.
"I'm very familiar with the Pac-10, having coached there," Swanson said. "[Arizona] is coming off a big win versus Texas. Both games will be tough and we know that. But we are looking forward to both games."
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