For a team which lost half of its previous season’s college cup team and added nine new players, the third-ranked Virginia Cavaliers women’s soccer team has exhibited an extraordinary level of chemistry in its 2014 campaign, which has seen the team extend its streak of wins against unranked opponents to 43.
On Sunday, the Cavaliers (13-1, 5-1 ACC) will have the opportunity to extend this impressive run when they travel to Louisville (6-6-2, 2-2-2 ACC) in the first matchup between the two squads. The trip will also mark Virginia’s first-ever trip to the state of Kentucky. Though the team is a new opponent for the ACC powerhouse, the Cavaliers are embracing this as just another challenge.
“I think for any team going on the road is a challenge because you’re not at home,” junior forward Makenzy Doniak said. “You’re not as comfortable as the home team, and that is just a challenge for us and I think at Notre Dame we did well with that. I think that going to a new place that we haven’t been will make us better in the long run.”
Virginia’s style of play typically lends itself well to varied environments, though.
“Certainly it’s something we work on,” assistant coach Ron Raab said. “It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s something that we as a coaching staff have emphasized — but I do think we have a group of great senior leaders on this team, some experienced players, and a team of players who know the value of what team means and what they need to do.”
One player who has recently excelled in her role is junior forward Kaili Torres, whose 12 points rank her fifth on the team, and whose performance was key in taking down North Carolina State last weekend. With one goal and three assists, Torres was all over the field, taking it to the ACC rival Wolfpack en route to a 6-0 victory.
“Now that we’re getting into ACC play, I’ve just been focusing on some things that I’ve needed to work on,” Torres said. “I wanted to make every time I touched the ball a little more dangerous, to make something out of it, and try to keep that mentality throughout the game.”
Torres’ play has boosted what is already incredibly strong chemistry throughout the team. This has been especially important with the recent absence of star senior midfielder Morgan Brian, who is away from Charlottesville to train and play with the U.S. Women’s National Team.
“I think you can say the chemistry between our backs and our forwards helps us a lot,” Doniak said. “A lot of our attack is built out of the back, so having that fluidity as a team really helps us, and when we get in the attacking third it helps us.”
It is this coordination which has helped Virginia adversity this year. Following the Sept. 28 defeat at the hands of Florida State in Tallahassee, the Cavaliers came back with a vengeance, dominating three ACC opponents in a row by a combined score of 14-4. In fact, Virginia’s 12 goals in the past two games are higher than 51 teams’ total goals this season.
“I thought the Florida State loss was a learning experience,” Raab said. “We didn’t play as well as we needed to in that particular game to get the desired result, and that’s a reminder that we’re going to have to work and we’re going to get everyone’s best shot, and we’re not going to just show up and not play well and expect to get a result…but the players have responded very well and they know that there’s a lot of season ahead, and they’re going to have to work hard to achieve their goals.”
While the Cavaliers experienced impressive success in recent games, Louisville is currently in the midst of a difficult season marked by weak performances, with the Cardinals’ offense averaging just .77 goals per game and the defense conceding 1.36 goals per game. Though this should be comforting for Virginia, the team will still tirelessly prepare for the first of a three-game road trip which spans the course of eight days.
“We’re able to see a lot of video on teams, and certainly talk to some of the teams that have played them,” Raab said. “I think we’ll have a pretty good idea of what their strengths and weaknesses will be, and how to best prepare for playing them on Sunday.”
Virginia’s first-ever game in the Bluegrass State will kick off at 1 p.m. from the Cardinals’ new Lynn Stadium, which opened at the start of the season.
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