After playing all the top teams in the ACC during recent weeks, the No. 8 Virginia women's soccer team opens up a four-game stretch which features the bottom four teams in the conference tonight against N.C. State in Raleigh. While the remaining schedule appears to be the team's easiest series of games since August, the Cavaliers (9-3-2, 3-2-1 ACC) do not view these matchups as an opportunity to cruise into the ACC Tournament.
"Any person who looks at [our schedule] would say, 'Well you've played the top six teams in the league, and you can take a collective breath now,'" Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "That's absolutely the wrong mentality for us to have. We actually have to go harder now because we've done some good things here, and we've got ourselves in a good position."
The Cavaliers currently rank first in the ACC in points, goals and assists and have beaten two of the top-10 teams in the nation. But even so, the team remains two games behind conference-leading Duke in the ACC standings. If the team hopes to contend for an ACC title, Swanson will have to push the Cavaliers to make crucial improvements during this final stretch, especially on defense where Virginia allowed a season-high three goals to Florida State last week.
"We can still get better here and improve in many ways," Swanson said. "We have everything left to play for ... Defensively, there are still a lot of things we can get better at as a team. I thought that our pressure as a team, especially in the first half on Saturday, we can get better at. We did in the second half which was good to see."
Offensively, Virginia would like to see success across the board from the attack but believes that the stellar play of junior forward Caroline Miller could carry the team far into postseason play. Miller has scored five of the Cavaliers' last nine goals, including game-winners against No. 5 North Carolina and No. 10 Florida State, and currently ranks No. 2 in the ACC and No. 13 nationally in goals per game.
"Caroline has been doing great," sophomore forward Gloria Douglas said. "She's an amazing player. She's been putting them in when we need them and that's the thing about working as a team. I know that I'm working hard and even if I don't score in a game, I know Caroline or [senior forward Lauren] Alwine or anyone else will step up in that position."
The Virginia bench and the team's younger players might also get a chance to step up against the Wolfpack tonight as N.C. State currently sits second-to-last in the ACC standings and has yet to collect a conference victory. Three of the six players who see the most playing time are freshmen or sophomores, including team assist leader Douglas. Furthermore, against Florida State, two of Virginia's substitutes notched assists.
"One of our sayings is to 'try to be seamless,'" freshman forward Kaili Torres said. "So when we come in from off the bench we don't want to lose anything. We pick it up and just keep [the momentum] going. We're just trying to be seamless and encourage each other."
The young Cavaliers will need to keep their guard up against the Wolfpack, however, as N.C. State boasts an impressive 6-1 record at home. Despite ranking second-to-last in the conference in goals per game and last in the ACC in assists per game, N.C. State has given other conference rivals fits at times. The Wolfpack managed to fight a then-No. 9 Maryland squad to a draw and only succumbed to Wake Forest by a single score.
"They're a tough team to break down," Swanson said. "They make it difficult for any team to play against them. They've had some pretty good results against some pretty goods teams. They drew against Maryland at Maryland, which is a good result. They're good at home; they'll have a good crowd ... [T]here are a lot of challenges with this game and the biggest thing for us is that we're ready for those challenges and rested and ready to go"
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