In order to be the best, a team must play the best. The Virginia women's soccer team has taken this mantra to heart this season. Of the Cavaliers' 18 games this season, 11 are against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year. By virtue of playing in the ACC, Virginia is all but guaranteed a difficult schedule all year. The ACC boasts five teams ranked in the top 25 nationally, including defending national champion North Carolina and 2006 national runner-up Florida State.
The Cavaliers have also challenged themselves by taking on a number of high-profile, non-conference opponents. They have already faced No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Santa Clara and No. 16 West Virginia and will take on Arizona and No. 18 Colorado this weekend. To say the least, the Cavaliers will have their plate full of tough opponents all season and they are certain to be tested physically, as well as mentally, throughout the year.
"A lot of it is mental," senior forward Shannon Foley said. "It will be mentally draining, but it's a challenge that we have embraced."
Players and coaches look at the daunting schedule as a challenge rather than an omen. They maintain that facing a difficult slate of opponents allows a team to learn about itself. In their eyes, a team can discover its strengths and weaknesses and come together emotionally if it continually challenges the best competition. In this respect, the difficult schedule could greatly strengthen the Cavaliers over time.
"It's a schedule that tests our team throughout the year," coach Steve Swanson said. "We'll be finding out about ourselves. If you don't face the kind of competition we'll be facing, then you won't find out about yourself until it's too late. We want to play the best and find out about ourselves early on."
Four games into the season, Virginia stands at 2-1-1 after suffering a defeat to Stanford and playing Santa Clara to a draw this past weekend. The Cavaliers have developed an effective offense, thanks to the steady play of junior forward Jess Rostedt and the return of Foley. Additionally, the emergence of freshmen midfielder Sinead Farrelly and forward Meghan Lenczyk has helped add a punch to the already dangerous offensive attack.
On the other side of the ball, defenders senior Becky Sauerbrunn and junior Nikki Krzysik have led a stellar defensive unit. Their play, along with the contributions of other teammates, has allowed redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chantel Jones to step into her new role as starting goalkeeper without missing a beat.
Swanson remains confident that the contributions of these key players, coupled with the team's depth, will allow Virginia to get through its difficult schedule with a good record.
"[Our schedule] is going to force us to be more organized and it's going to force us to focus for 90 minutes," Swanson said. "But I'd like to think it's going to help us. Many of our players are experienced and they know what it takes to get through a season."
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