While most University students have been slowly easing themselves into the routine of classes and extracurricular activities, the women’s soccer team has already played two exhibition games and one regular-season game. This weekend, Virginia looks to make its record 3-0 when the Cavaliers take on Liberty and Virginia Commonwealth.
On paper, the differences between the three teams are stark. Currently, Virginia holds a top-10 national ranking, whereas Liberty and VCU are not ranked among the top 25. Virginia has been picked to finish third in the ACC, one of the best women’s soccer conferences in the nation. Meanwhile, Liberty was picked to finish third in the Big South Conference and VCU is expected to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association, both relatively unknown conferences that do not have a team in the top 25.
If Cavalier fans think Virginia is planning on coasting into these weekend games, however, they are wrong.
“When you step onto the field every time, you’re not going to know what to expect,” freshman forward Lauren Alwine said. “But the exhibition games have really helped.”
It is certainly true that anything can happen in sports. It is especially true, though, for a low-scoring sport like soccer, where one goal can make a huge impact. With one blown clearance from a defender on the back line or one mishandled ball from a goalie, the unexpected becomes much more possible. The Cavaliers, though, do not seem ready to let the unexpected happen to them.
“In the past, like last year, we had all ties,” senior midfielder Kelly Quinn said. “Sometimes when you lose easy games it doesn’t give you a good draw for the tournament. So this year our big goal is to win every season game.”
When your goal is to win every game, the smaller, seemingly less important games, become exactly the opposite. Virginia will spend the whole season gearing up for its games against teams such as Florida State and North Carolina, but it will take serious focus to give this weekend’s games all the attention and preparation they give to tough in-conference opponents.
“Everyone is going to give us their best game,” Quinn said. “Every game for them, it’s like a huge game. We can’t look ahead and look at these North Carolina teams. We have to look at every game — Loyola, everyone — one at a time.”
With Virginia in the right mentality, the Lady Flames will have to bounce back from an 0-2 season opening loss against Longwood last Friday. Liberty’s biggest challenge this season will be adjusting to its new coaching staff as Jessica Celi and Abby Crumpton take the role as head and assistant coach, respectively. Liberty hopes Celi’s reputation as a strong recruiter will become evident in the coming seasons.
VCU, on the other hand, has yet to open its season, although it lost a tightly contested exhibition with the Washington Freedom — formerly of the WUSA, the first professional women’s soccer league — and will play at nearby Richmond Friday before coming to Charlottesville Sunday.
As for the Cavaliers, they won their last game 4-0 against Loyola but still saw room for improvement.
“We won, we scored four goals, and we didn’t even play as good as we could play,” Quinn said. “We do watch film, but it’s only to look at what we did wrong and put that towards the next game.”
Look for Virginia to try to win this weekend by playing solid defense that the team will use to create opportunities for its midfield and forwards. The Cavaliers outshot Loyola 26-1 and took all 11 corner kicks in the match. If they can dominate offensively in these upcoming games, Liberty and VCU will find it challenging to pull off an upset.
In this weekend of forgone conclusions, the Virginia women’s soccer team hopes to do what the Cavalier football team hopes USC won’t: win in situations which they have everything to lose and nothing to gain.
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