North Carolina is the Brazil of women's soccer. The team has won 19 national championships in the past 27 years and is the only team in the ACC to have earned a national title.
The Cavaliers, reeling from a series of disappointing games, will face the Tar Heels this weekend in what has become a conference grudge match between the two schools. North Carolina is a clear favorite going into the match, having won all but two of their games this season. Virginia, on the other hand, holds a mediocre 6-4-3 record.
All in all, the odds are very much stacked against the Cavaliers. Even last season, when Virginia fielded a stronger team, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers 5-1 in Charlottesville.
This season, Virginia will face Carolina with a less experienced squad on the Tar Heels' home turf. Virginia also enters the matchup with a lack of momentum after a road loss to Boston College last weekend.
"We know that it's frustrating because, even the game against BC, we killed them, we just didn't win," junior midfielder Sinead Farrelly said. "Now, our games count, we have to win. I think this week, Steve just wants us to focus on everyone coming on time and playing hard this week. Just playing hard since UNC is next."
Against Boston College, Virginia lost its first sudden-death overtime game of the year. The late loss to the Eagles dropped the Cavaliers to 1-3-1 in the ACC, and unless the squad rectifies its shortcomings, any chance of contending for a conference title could fade entirely.
"Right now, we're just trying to fix our mistakes from BC because that's pretty much the only thing we can do right now is just try to correct the things that have been going wrong and hope that things will start going right against UNC," redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Chantel Jones said.
Certainly, Virginia will have to play "right" against North Carolina. Apart from an upset loss to Virginia Tech, the Tar Heels have not lost a game to an ACC foe in the last two seasons. North Carolina is coming off a 5-0 drubbing of N.C. State, and the squad's combination of confidence and a dynamic attack could present Virginia with its most demanding task of the season.
"I think we usually go about it a little bit differently, a little bit more defensive," Farrelly said. "But I feel like, in our position now, we don't have anything to lose, so it's kind of like, we want to just play our game, so if we have our chances we need to finish them now"
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