After a stunning victory in the ACC tournament, the No. 3 Virginia women’s soccer team sets its sights on the opening round of the NCAA tournament Friday evening.
The 64-team field for the tournament was set Monday night, with Virginia (16-4-1, 6-3-1 ACC) securing a No. 2 seed and a first-round home matchup against La Salle. Some of the players bristled slightly at the team not receiving a top seed, especially after the squad defeated three top-10 teams in the conference tournament — including Florida State, who garnered a No. 1 seed.
“I think [it] motivates us a little bit, just because we thought we should have [gotten a top seed],” sophomore midfielder Morgan Brian said. “Going into this tournament getting a No. 2 seed is just great.”
The Cavaliers are riding a five-game winning streak, all against ranked opponents, and have averaged almost four goals a game during the stretch. The team has looked almost unstoppable since a late-season 1-0 loss to Florida State Oct. 14, a game the players credit as a turning point.
“I think we had a talk that we really needed to come together when we were down at Florida State, playing them the first time,” senior forward Caroline Miller said. “I think that really had an effect, because after that, everyone just started going harder and harder.”
As good as the offense has been, the defense has been even better. Maryland managed just three shots on goal in a 4-0 defeat to Virginia in the ACC tournament final and was unable to create consistent offensive chances.
“I think the last couple of weeks we’ve been working a lot more with defense,” junior defender Morgan Stith said of the success. “[We’re] doing more functional stuff, not just clearing the ball and making better decisions, but really stepping and dropping as a unit together.”
Even with the weekend’s momentum behind them, the players are trying to improve even more in training to position themselves for a deep run in the tournament and improve upon last year’s exit in quarterfinals.
“I still think we can get better,” coach Steve Swanson said. “We’re doing a lot of things really well right now, but we can fine tune some things. To me, that’s the motivation: to make our team as good as we can going into this game.”
Virginia Friday evening faces La Salle (17-4-1, 8-0-1 A-10), an unfamiliar opponent for the Cavaliers. The Explorers are the A-10 conference champions and enter the game with only one loss in their last 16 games. Their 18.6 shots-per-game average indicates they should present an opening challenge for the Cavaliers despite coming into the game as underdogs.
“They’ve had two good years that they put back to back, and they’re got some good players,” Swanson said. “They’ve got a quality coach, and they played a tough schedule. It’ll be a good game, and a good test for us early on.”
Though the Cavaliers are not overlooking the Explorers, they are preparing for a long road to the title.
“We know that in the NCAA tournament you’re in it for the long haul, so you can get caught up in [unnecessary] things or you can just concentrate on yourselves, and control things you can control, and play the one game you have in front of you,” Swanson said.
The action kicks off at Klöckner Friday at 6 p.m.
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