The women's soccer team has played it tight this season against some of the nation's top competition. Three of the team's six ACC opponents have been ranked in the top five, four games have been decided by only one goal and two have gone into overtime.
Facing off against No. 10 Florida State (11-3, 5-1 ACC) tonight in Tallahassee, the No. 8 Cavaliers know this contest will not provide a respite.
"It'll be a tough test," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "They draw really well. The crowd will be certainly against us. It's a great environment to play, just another challenge."
Historically, that challenge has always been tougher for the Seminoles. Virginia is 15-0-3 all-time against Florida State, including a 1-0 win last year when the Cavaliers were unranked and Florida State was ranked No. 4 in the country. Still, players are not overlooking a quality ACC opponent.
"Over my four years, I've kind of accepted that the ACC is just gonna be like that - you're not going to get an easy game no matter what," senior forward Meghan Lenczyk said. "So I think we're used to it."
Senior forward Janice Cayman and junior midfielder Tori Huster lead the Seminoles with six goals and five assists apiece for a total of 34 combined points.
Their counterparts are equally effective, however, as the Cavaliers (10-3-1, 4-2-0 ACC) rank second in the conference in total goals. Lencyzk, moreover, is tied for first in the ACC in goals per game and third in the ACC in points.
Lencyzk was named ACC Player of the Week after scoring three goals during the team's 2-0 and 2-1 wins against Duke and Wake Forest, becoming only the third player in ACC history to win the award three times in a season. The other two were North Carolina's Mia Hamm and Debbie Keller.
The Cavaliers, however, might be missing an important part of their front line in junior forward Lauren Alwine, who went down during Sunday's game against Wake Forest after receiving a strong blow to the mid-section from a Demon Deacon defender. Alwine was helped off the field in visible pain, and before Tuesday's practice was covered in athletic tape. Coaches said herstatus for tonight's game is unknown.
"It's kind of day-to-day right now," Swanson said. "She took quite a hit to her rib cage so we're just kind of monitoring it, and we just have to go by how she's feeling and when she feels good enough to go back out where we're not risking anything in terms of an additional injury."
Alwine's most likely replacement would be Gloria Douglas, a freshman forward who served as Alwine's substitute Sunday. The change may not hurt Virginia's chances - Douglas went on to score the game-winning goal.
Tonight's match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
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