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Top-seeded Virginia hosts St. Francis

Swanson, players hope Tech loss becomes beneficial learning experience

Thanks to its stellar play throughout the regular season, the Virginia women’s soccer team earned the University’s first ever No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and will host St. Francis Friday night at Klöckner Stadium.

Despite becoming the first team since Stanford in 2009 to post a perfect regular season record and priming themselves for a conference title, the Cavaliers (20-1-0, 13-0-0 ACC) faltered against in-state rival Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament semifinal last Friday. The Hokies were able to penetrate the usually staunch Virginia defense and put up four goals on a team that had already registered 13 shutouts in 2013.

“It’s a long season, 21 games, and it’s unfortunate that we had a bad game against Virginia Tech,” said Morgan Brian, junior midfielder and first team All-ACC player. “It was one of our worst games this season. There were just a couple of things that broke down all over the field during the game.”

Coach Steve Swanson is eager to see how his players respond to a result they have not experienced all year. A handful of key contributors, including starting goalkeeper Morgan Stearns, are freshmen who before last week had never felt the sting of a loss at the collegiate level.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been put in that position, so it’s tough and it’s disappointing,” said Swanson, the ACC Coach of the Year. “But I think there is a lot to be gained from it in terms of improving as a team and understanding what we have to do in order to be successful. We’ve had some very good practices the past few days, so there is a good sense of focus and their head is in the right place. We’ve played 21 games and we’ve lost one game, so I like where we are right now.”

Selection Monday paid tribute to Virginia’s conference, with the ACC snatching all four No. 1 seeds in the 64-team tournament. While allowing just six goals in 13 conference games during the regular season, Virginia shutout each of its fellow top seeds — Virginia Tech, Florida State and North Carolina — in regular season play.

“It’s such a difficult conference and you know that when you go through it, but I’m not sure anyone else really appreciates it unless they’re in there slugging away,” Swanson said. “It’s a good statement for our conference to get all four No. 1 seeds.”

The No. 1 overall seed is the program’s first, carrying with it high expectations and a favorable path to the College Cup. The Cavaliers will have home field advantage all the way until the Final Four, which means an incredible amount to a squad that yielded just six goals in its 14 contests at Klöckner this year.

“Playing at Klöckner is great for us,” Brian said. “It’s a big field with a great surface that plays to our advantage. The crowd has been great this year with the support they have given us, so for us, it is huge to play at home.”

St. Francis (13-7-1, 7-1-0 Northeast) is currently riding a five-match winning streak, highlighted by a 1-0 victory against LIU Brooklyn Sunday to clinch the Northeast Conference Championship. The Red Flash boast a roster brimming with talent, headlined by senior forward Tesa McKibben. McKibben has rewritten not just Saint Francis’ record books, but the NCAA’s as well. She is the first ever player to win her conference’s Player of the Year award in four consecutive seasons, and her 171 career points lead all active players in the country.

“It doesn’t really matter who we play at this point, we just need to focus on how we can play and making sure that we keep getting better throughout the tournament,” Brian said. “Everyone from here on out is going to be a good opponent.”

The Cavaliers will clash with the Red Flash at 7 p.m. Friday at Klöckner stadium.

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