The Virginia men's soccer team battles N.C. State today for the remaining spot in the quarterfinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Tournament.
Seeded eighth and ninth respectively, the No. 21 Cavaliers (10-6-2, 1-5-2) and the Wolfpack (6-8-3, 1-6-1) will duke it out at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C. The winner will take on Boston College (12-4-1, 7-1-0), the 2007 regular season ACC Champions and the tournament's top seed, Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
"It's a new season for us," sophomore goalkeeper Mike Giallombardo said. "Although we got a little unlucky in the regular season, the great thing about sports is that the postseason is a new beginning."
Indeed, as the Cavaliers head into the tournament with only one ACC win under their belts, they are looking to bounce back from a sub par regular season performance and prove why they are still ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation.
"It's soccer, and things can not go your way but when that happens, the better teams, they snap out of it," Giallombardo said. "It is going to be good to start fresh with no losses on you. If you win the ACC Tournament, everything looks good from there."
Unfortunately for Virginia, the team will embark on the postseason stretch without one of its key players. Junior forward Yannick Reyering, having sustained a knee injury against Maryland, is officially out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
Yesterday, Reyering was the only Cavalier named to the 2007 All-ACC First Team.
"It comes at a bad time, but I think we have enough talent on this team that hopefully we can fill his shoes," senior Chris Tierney said. "Yannick is a great target forward and powerful and an emotional leader for us, so it's a tough loss."
As opposed to trying to replace Reyering, who is not only the ACC's leading scorer but also the conference player with the most overall points, Virginia coach George Gelnovatch sought to compensate for his absence by changing the field formation. Last Friday's contest against Wake Forest had the Cavaliers in a 1-5-4 with only one forward and five in the midfield.
"It was somewhat new for us but I think we have the right leadership on this team that we will be OK," Tierney said.
With six of the nine ACC teams currently ranked among the top 25 nationally -- Boston College, Wake Forest, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Duke -- the Cavaliers hardly expect the postseason to be any easier than the regular one. Nevertheless, the team is focusing on the positive aspects of its first ACC go-around while simultaneously learning from its mistakes.
"Although we were beaten by our fair share of ACC teams this year, there wasn't one game where we couldn't have or shouldn't have won," Tierney said. "I think we are taking it well as a team, and I think that the five losses ... have given us determination going into the tournament"
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