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(10/24/08 3:09am)
“Like father, like son” is a common cliché thrown around in the sporting world. Athletes such as Luke Walton, professional basketball player and son of renowned basketball player Bill Walton, or even Joe Buck, one of the most recognizable sports broadcasters of the current collegiate generation and son of Jack Buck, himself a Hall of Fame broadcaster, can attest to this sentiment. Wahoos have experienced it firsthand when they cheered for Chris Long and his dad, Howie Long, as the father-son pair received Chris’s retired jersey in the middle of Scott Stadium last year before the Virginia Tech game. As recently as last weekend, Virginia fans at Scott Stadium were witness to NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green raising the “Power of Orange” flag before his son, freshman wide receiver Jared Green, played for the Cavaliers against North Carolina.One family that seems to be expanding the meaning of the phrase at Virginia is the Starsia clan. “Like uncle, like niece” may be taking it a bit far, but the comparison can be made between Dom Starsia, the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team, and Katie Starsia, a freshman defender on the Virginia women’s soccer team.“I really chose the school on a lot of different things, especially soccer and [education],” Katie Starsia said. “But having my uncle here and having that safety and support definitely factored into the decision.”Dom Starsia is entering his 16th season as the head coach of the men’s lacrosse program at Virginia. With a 170—58 record in his time at Virginia, Starsia has taken the Cavaliers to the national championship game five times, winning on three of the trips. Virginia maintains such a consistently strong program because of its top-notch recruiting — which is in no small part because of Starsia, who is known for his ability to recruit and educate young talent. Starsia, however, was careful not to exploit this talent in Katie Starsia’s situation.“I tried not to overplay what a great school Virginia is or the quality of experience we’ve had here because I really didn’t want her to choose Virginia because I was here or [because I] had sort of coerced her into making that decision,” Dom Starsia said. “I wanted it very much to be her own decision for the right reasons.”Katie Starsia made the decision early on, having already committed to Virginia by her junior year in high school. While Dom Starsia avoided pressuring Katie Starsia into coming to Virginia, his presence allowed her to become familiar with the school before her thoughts turned to higher education and athletics.“Ever since he took the job we came down here frequently — we came here twice a year just to go see him,” Katie Starsia said. “So I got to the school,” adding with a laugh that she has “seen a lot of lacrosse.”Moreover, she was able to use her uncle’s experience with collegiate athletics as a resource.“I tried to give her hints in the recruiting in terms of the language of what the coaches were talking about and things like that,” Dom Starsia said.Because both the women’s soccer and men’s lacrosse teams are successful, a friendly rivalry has developed — and not just between niece and uncle.“It’s not me and my uncle, it’s my uncle and my coach,” Katie Starsia said. “It is so funny — they have a little inside rivalry.”The two teams share adjacent practice fields, which has led to several interesting encounters.“[Virginia women’s soccer coach] Steve [Swanson] has already told me he thoroughly enjoys screaming out, ‘Get your a** moving, Starsia!’” Dom Starsia said, sharing how he repaid the favor to the women’s soccer coach.“The first time that we had fall lacrosse practice at the same time women’s soccer was out there, I walked over to the net that separates the two fields and yelled out, ‘Hey, you’re looking really good, Starsia!’ And when the girls all looked over I said, ‘Hey, I’m just talking to myself.’ So I think we can all have some fun with it.”Dom Starsia makes it clear that the joking is all in good fun and is quick to share his respect of Swanson.“Steve and I are pretty close,” Dom Starsia said. “That was the easy part of it — to know that she was going to be working with Steve and the people on his staff because they run a first-class operation over there.”Katie Starsia’s collegiate career is still young. Only halfway though her first season, Katie has at least three years of soccer left at Virginia and likely many more years of watching her uncle coach lacrosse. While the number of championships the two teams accrue may be exciting to focus on for the next few years, Dom Starsia does not forget the sentiments an uncle should have for his niece.“The most important [thing] is that Katie seems happy,” Dom Starsia said. “I want for her to be feeling like she made a really good decision at the end of the day.”
(10/23/08 5:11am)
“Like father, like son” is a common cliché thrown around in the sporting world. Athletes such as Luke Walton, professional basketball player and son of renowned basketball player Bill Walton, or even Joe Buck, one of the most recognizable sports broadcasters of the current collegiate generation and son of Jack Buck, himself a Hall of Fame broadcaster, can attest to this sentiment. Wahoos have experienced it firsthand when they cheered for Chris Long and his dad, Howie Long, as the father-son pair received Chris’s retired jersey in the middle of Scott Stadium last year before the Virginia Tech game. As recently as last weekend, Virginia fans at Scott Stadium were witness to NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green raising the “Power of Orange” flag before his son, freshman wide receiver Jared Green, played for the Cavaliers against North Carolina.One family that seems to be expanding the meaning of the phrase at Virginia is the Starsia clan. “Like uncle, like niece” may be taking it a bit far, but the comparison can be made between Dom Starsia, the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team, and Katie Starsia, a freshman defender on the Virginia women’s soccer team.“I really chose the school on a lot of different things, especially soccer and [education],” Katie Starsia said. “But having my uncle here and having that safety and support definitely factored into the decision.”Dom Starsia is entering his 16th season as the head coach of the men’s lacrosse program at Virginia. With a 170—58 record in his time at Virginia, Starsia has taken the Cavaliers to the national championship game five times, winning on three of the trips. Virginia maintains such a consistently strong program because of its top-notch recruiting — which is in no small part because of Starsia, who is known for his ability to recruit and educate young talent. Starsia, however, was careful not to exploit this talent in Katie Starsia’s situation.“I tried not to overplay what a great school Virginia is or the quality of experience we’ve had here because I really didn’t want her to choose Virginia because I was here or [because I] had sort of coerced her into making that decision,” Dom Starsia said. “I wanted it very much to be her own decision for the right reasons.”Katie Starsia made the decision early on, having already committed to Virginia by her junior year in high school. While Dom Starsia avoided pressuring Katie Starsia into coming to Virginia, his presence allowed her to become familiar with the school before her thoughts turned to higher education and athletics.“Ever since he took the job we came down here frequently — we came here twice a year just to go see him,” Katie Starsia said. “So I got to the school,” adding with a laugh that she has “seen a lot of lacrosse.”Moreover, she was able to use her uncle’s experience with collegiate athletics as a resource.“I tried to give her hints in the recruiting in terms of the language of what the coaches were talking about and things like that,” Dom Starsia said.Because both the women’s soccer and men’s lacrosse teams are successful, a friendly rivalry has developed — and not just between niece and uncle. “It’s not me and my uncle, it’s my uncle and my coach,” Katie Starsia said. “It is so funny — they have a little inside rivalry.”The two teams share adjacent practice fields, which has led to several interesting encounters.“[Virginia women’s soccer coach] Steve [Swanson] has already told me he thoroughly enjoys screaming out, ‘Get your a** moving,Starsia!’” Dom Starsia said, sharing how he repaid the favor to the women’s soccer coach.“The first time that we had fall lacrosse practice at the same time women’s soccer was out there, I walked over to the net that separates the two fields and yelled out, ‘Hey, you’re looking really good, Starsia!’ And when the girls all looked over I said, ‘Hey, I’m just talking to myself.’ So I think we can all have some fun with it.”Dom Starsia makes it clear that the joking is all in good fun and is quick to share his respect of Swanson.“Steve and I are pretty close,” Dom Starsia said. “That was the easy part of it — to know that she was going to be working with Steve and the people on his staff because they run a first-class operation over there.”Katie Starsia’s collegiate career is still young. Only halfway though her first season, Katie has at least three years of soccer left at Virginia and likely many more years of watching her uncle coach lacrosse. While the number of championships the two teams accrue may be exciting to focus on for the next few years, Dom Starsia does not forget the sentiments an uncle should have for his niece.“The most important [thing] is that Katie seems happy,” Dom Starsia said. “I want for her to be feeling like she made a really good decision at the end of the day.”
(10/20/08 4:00am)
The Virginia women’s soccer team’s last three games have demonstrated how any ACC matchup can be a struggle. Yesterday against Boston College, the Cavaliers, after having out-scored ACC opponents 16-1 in their first four games, struggled to edge out the Eagles 2-1 at Klöckner Stadium.“We could see these guys again [in the ACC Tournament],” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “The greatest thing about our conference is that it prepares you. These are the kind of games you are going to get week in and week out. I think that’s the challenge.”One challenge the Cavaliers faced yesterday was having to come back from a deficit, something they have not had to do often this season. Boston College found its way to an early lead after scoring off a through pass in the seventh minute; however, the Cavaliers did not appear to be disheartened.“I was really happy with the way our kids responded today, given the circumstances and given how much traveling we’ve had over the last month,” Swanson said.This response came in the form of two unanswered goals by Virginia to put the team ahead by what would prove to be a victorious margin, Virginia’s first ever against Boston College. Freshman forward Lauren Alwine remained the assist leader in the ACC with 12, helping on Virginia’s first goal by junior forward Jess Rostedt in the 27th minute. The second goal gave Cavaliers a glimpse of Toulouse, a player who has flown under the radar for most of the season. She headed in a cross from junior forward Amanda Stewart for the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute.“The second I saw [Stewart] getting ready to cross it in with a good right-footed ball, I just made sure I was on-sides and [that I] kept it down,” Toulouse said.The goal is the first of Toulouse’s career, making her the 14th Cavalier to score this season.“She’s created a lot of chances for herself this season,” Swanson said. “Maybe last year she wasn’t getting the chances ... maybe she wasn’t finishing them, but you could see the change — you knew it was just a matter of time. I’m glad she picked this time.”On the other side of the ball, the back line regrouped and hustled its way through 83 scoreless minutes to hold the Eagles to their early goal and secure the win. Senior goalie Celeste Miles backed up the defense with four saves.“Offense starts with the defense,” sophomore midfielder Kika Toulouse said. “As long as they are playing good balls up to us and as long as they are feeling confident, then we are feeling confident. Our defense did an excellent job of that today, especially after [the Eagles] got a goal on us early — just holding them down after we got our second goal was big.”With the win, Virginia moves to 6-1 in the ACC, good for second in the conference above Florida State. In first place is perennial national powerhouse North Carolina, from whom the Cavaliers could take first place with a victory Friday night at Klöckner.
(10/17/08 4:51am)
The Virginia women’s soccer team won at Maryland last night 3-2 after taking an early lead.Virginia went ahead two goals in the early minutes of the game with scores from senior defender Nikki Krzysik and freshman forward Lauren Alwine, but the Cavaliers allowed the Terrapins to battle back and tie the game at 2-2 shortly after halftime.The rest of regulation remained scoreless until the two teams headed into overtime. As the minutes of regulation wore out and overtime continued, Virginia increased its forward attack. Just four minutes into sudden death overtime, sophomore defender Colleen Flanagan headed in a corner kick from Alwine to win the game and move the Cavaliers to 5-1 in the conference and 11-2-1 overall. The loss drops Maryland to 5-8-1 and 1-5 in the ACC. Virginia will return home to continue its ACC schedule against Boston College (9-3-2, 3-2-1 ACC) Sunday. Duke separates the two teams in the ACC standings, although the Eagles have already fallen against the two teams atop the conference standings, Florida State and North Carolina.On paper Boston College appears to be an average ACC team because its lone outstanding statistic, the team’s eight shutouts on the season, has been achieved by four other ACC teams. Virginia has seven shutouts on the season.
(10/09/08 7:55am)
“It’s our biggest game of the season. I think it’s a tremendous rivalry.”When Virginia coach Steve Swanson speaks of a “tremendous rivalry,” one school unequivocally stands out from the rest: Virginia Tech.The No. 8 Virginia women’s soccer team (10-1-1, 4-0 ACC) will continue this in-state rivalry when it plays the Hokies (6-4-2, 1-1-2 ACC) in Blacksburg tonight. The Cavaliers hope to remain undefeated in conference play in their fifth ACC matchup of the season.“When we play Virginia Tech it’s always a big game,” Swanson said. “The fact that it’s down there will be even more of a challenge for us.”Thus far, the Cavaliers have out-scored their ACC opponents 16-1 in just four games, three of which have been away from their home turf. Their 4-0 in-conference start ties Virginia’s 2005 squad for the best ACC start in school history. It seems no opponent has exposed any major weakness in the orange and blue. Being on such a roll has put team focus at the forefront of Swanson’s approach to the next game.“We always say that each game is our biggest game of the season because it’s the next game,” senior goalie Celeste Miles said. “We’re sure that we’ll get their best shot, not just because of the Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry, but because it’s an ACC game.”Against Clemson Sunday, the Cavaliers managed their best scoring output of the season in the 7-1 blowout. They overcame what has been a challenge all season: shot conversion. In every game before the Clemson matchup, Virginia struggled to turn its overwhelming number of shots into goals. Even in the 6-0 rout of N.C. State, it took 26 shots to find the net six times. In their most recent game against Clemson, however, Virginia tallied seven goals on just 13 shots.The Virginia defense, meanwhile, has been strong throughout the conference schedule. Posting three shutouts in its last four games, Virginia’s only goal allowed in conference play came from a score in the 89th minute by an already ravaged Clemson team.On the offensive side of the pitch, forwards Lauren Alwine and Meghan Lenczyk have provided the spark. Alwine, a freshman, leads the ACC in assists, while Lencyzk, a sophomore, is tied for second in the ACC in goals, having scored at least one goal in each of the Cavaliers’ four ACC games.To continue the team’s recent dominance, Swanson said he believes team leadership will be necessary to stay on track.“I’ve been very happy with our leaders — our seniors on the team — that have really helped us get pointed in the right direction and helped keep our minds focused on the right game, the current game,” Swanson said.One such senior leader is Miles, who had a constructive outlook after Sunday’s 7-1 dismissal of Clemson.“If anything positive comes out of it, we’re definitely happy to win by that margin,” Miles said. “But [the one goal] leaves a bitter taste in our mouth that will help motivate us through practice next week. I think that could be a good thing to help us not get big heads because we know that we still have things to work on.”The four ACC teams Virginia Tech has played thus far are the same four teams Virginia has played. Given their lone ACC win against N.C. State, the Hokies have performed less successfully than Virginia in conference. Notable to compare is Virginia Tech’s 2-2 tie against Clemson versus the Cavaliers 7-1 destruction of the Tigers. Come Thursday, however, these comparisons will become irrelevant.“It’s very early in the ACC season as far as I’m concerned,” Swanson said, emphasizing that a team “is only as good as its last game.”Right now Virginia is at peak form after a strong performance against Clemson, but all that could change if the Cavaliers do not come out ready to play Thursday. The athletes and coaches plan to prepare for the here and now.“Steve [Swanson] told us that right now we have a one-game season,” Miles said. “That game is Virginia Tech.”
(10/03/08 7:54am)
The Cavaliers came out ready to defend their home turf last night against the Wolfpack. After two straight weeks on the road, Virginia defeated N.C. State in a 6-0 bludgeoning, securing its first 3-0 conference start since 2005.Freshman forward Lauren Alwine scored a goal in the 38th minute and then assisted junior midfielder Jess Rostedt in the 40th minute to give Virginia (9-1-1, 3-0 ACC) a 2-0 lead against the Wolfpack (8-4, 0-2 ACC) going into halftime.“We’ve been in positions before where we’ve been up two-nothing and we haven’t put teams away,” coach Steve Swanson said. “So that was a challenge that we put forward to [the players]: Let’s see if we can put them away; let’s see if we can score some more goals here.”The Virginia players answered that challenge in the second half with four more goals from four different players.Alwine also garnered two more assists to give her an ACC-leading 10 on the season.“I like assists better than goals,” Alwine said. “It’s a good feeling creating them and setting my teammates up. But it was good to get a little bit of both tonight, though.”Sophomore forward Meghan Lenczyk hit the back of the net for her ninth goal — five of which have been assisted by Alwine — to become the lone leading scorer of the ACC.“Those two have seemed to go on their own kind of page early, which has been great for us,” Swanson said. “I thought they both did a good job coming off the bench when the game settled in a bit and gave us a spark.”Rostedt, a 2006 All-ACC honoree, made her first start of the 2008 season after missing much of last season because of injury.“When you are on the field you are actually contributing,” Rostedt said. “On the bench you are contributing too, but it just feels good to actually play with the girls on the field again.”After taking seven shots in 50 minutes against Florida State last Thursday, Rostedt scored her first goal since the 2007 season opener.“It felt really good, especially at Klöckner, since I started playing two games ago we’ve been on the road a while,” Rostedt said. “It’s good to be back at Klöckner.”Undefeated so far this year at home, the Cavaliers will travel away from Klöckner Sunday to face coach Hershey Strosberg’s Clemson squad. Strosberg is in his first year at Clemson (4-4-1, 0-1-1 ACC) after leaving his seven-season assistant coach spot at Virginia last year.“From my perspective, our players have to understand it’s Clemson we’re playing,” Swanson said. “Obviously we know a couple people on the sidelines there. They know us quite well; they know our personnel. At the end of the day, it’s going to be 11 players against 11 players.”With a win Sunday, Virginia would remain at least tied at the top of the ACC standings with North Carolina.“Our depth showed tonight, which was nice,” Swanson said. “As you do in every ACC game, you have to be ready to play. We’ll enjoy this for now, but we’ve got a big game Sunday.”
(09/25/08 4:11am)
After a disappointing road loss against West Virginia Sunday, the No. 13 Virginia women’s soccer team will take on ACC opponent Florida State today on the road.The matchup between the Cavaliers (6-1-1) and Florida State (6-1-1) marks the Cavaliers’ first ACC game, as well as the beginning of arguably the most challenging part of the season, which will test the validity of the high ranking Virginia has maintained through the season thus far.“I honestly believe the competition within the ACC from top to bottom is the best,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said.The Cavaliers’ conference opener will be against a team that can easily be described as one of the best. Currently ranked No. 8 nationally, Florida State’s only loss came to SEC powerhouse and in-state rival Florida.With the great challenge Virginia has in playing Florida State, the game is also an opportunity for the Cavaliers to bounce back from their only loss of the season, which came in blowout fashion in a 0-3 loss to No. 11 West Virginia Sunday afternoon. Unlike previous games, however, the cause of the loss does not appear to have been lack of shot conversion.Until this week, the Orange-and-Blue have maintained a top-10 national ranking. When the Cavaliers failed the test of proving themselves against their highest ranked opponent of the season in the Mountaineers, however, they dropped from No. 7 to No. 13. Against their first top-10 opponent in the Seminoles, the Cavaliers have a second chance to show themselves worthy to once again don a top-10 ranking of their own.“There are no easy games [in the ACC],” Florida State coach Mark Krikorian said. “Every time you take the field you know that if you’re not on your game you can leave the field with a loss.” One of the Seminoles’ strong points is their defense, which has allowed opponents a microscopic 0.068 shooting percentage and has held opponents to a measly 0.62 goals per game. To overcome this obstacle, the Cavaliers will be forced to call upon a strength that failed to shine in the game against the Mountaineers, when Virginia had just four shots: a deep lineup with 10 goal-scorers and a total of 23 assists versus their opponents’ one.As has been the case the entire season, the Cavaliers will also have to focus on converting shots. Virginia has out-shot its opponents almost 6-1 but only out-scored its opponents by a ratio of approximately 3-1.Another cause for concern is the recent play of senior goalie Celeste Miles. While Miles started off the season with numerous shutouts, she matched her total number of goals allowed for the entire season against West Virginia. She was pulled from the game in the 73rd minute.If playing West Virginia was an important stepping stone into ACC play, Florida State is an important opener and is certainly the most important game of the season for the Cavaliers thus far. From here on out, though, every game will be a true test for Virginia.“I think the RPI, the ratings index, the strength of the schedules, and how the teams have done over the course of the last decade bears [out how good the ACC is],” Swanson said. “It really forces you to be on your toes, it forces you to be prepared.”
(09/19/08 6:39am)
For its last non-conference game before ACC play starts, the Virginia women’s soccer team will travel to Morgantown, W.Va., to take on the Mountaineers at 2 p.m. Sunday.ACC play, which starts next weekend for the Cavaliers, will mark the toughest stretch of competition Virginia will face this season, with the exception perhaps of the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. However, West Virginia (4-1-2) will be an imposing stepping stone. Ranked No. 14 nationally, the Mountaineers will have strong momentum going into Sunday from their 4-0 victory last night against Pittsburgh. Currently on a six-game unbeaten streak, the only blemish for West Virginia was given by No. 15 Santa Clara in a close 2-1 game.On the other hand, there is Virginia. The Cavaliers still remain near the top of the rankings at No. 7 and maintain a 6-0-1 unbeaten record. There is, however, no doubt the Cavaliers have lost some momentum.“We’ve got to just keep working at it,” coach Steve Swanson said following the Cavaliers’ most recent 2-1 victory against Dartmouth. “I don’t think we have any false interpretations of where we are right now. We can be very good, but ... if we’re not sharp and we’re not focused, it can certainly show.”Virginia started out its season steamrolling. It shut out its first three opponents, outscoring them 14-0. In its last three games however, Virginia has struggled. After a discouraging tie to Auburn two weekends ago, Virginia came back to Klöckner and won each of its two games 2-1. Though they were wins, the two games seemed to be emotionally draining for the Cavaliers.“We kept shooting,” sophomore forward Meghan Lenczyk said. “Every game we get a ton of shots and aren’t capitalizing.”For the Cavaliers to continue their dominance, they will have to find a way to convert their offensive pressure into points on the scoreboard.“We have to be consistent for 90 minutes,” Swanson said, adding, “we’re not all there yet, but we’ve done some very good things early in the season. I think there [are] a lot of positive things, but we’ve just got some areas that we’ve got to hone in and do a little better job of.”Lenczyk might be one of the architects of this effort. She currently leads the team in goals with six, having secured a hat trick in a game in which she came off the bench. She also netted the two game-winning goals last weekend.West Virginia’s playing style appears similar to Virginia’s. Prior to last night’s game, the Mountaineers were averaging 19.6 shots on goal per game (compared to Virginia’s 23.3) and had only allowed their opponents to take 6.4 (compared to Virginia’s 3.1).Two aspects of the teams’ play thus far, however, present a discrepancy. First, Virginia has managed 23 assists to West Virginia’s seven. This is most likely because of the Cavaliers’ depth of quality offensive players.Second, West Virginia has been involved in many more close games than Virginia, which is what the game Sunday could become.Whether the Mountaineers’ experience in close games becomes a factor remains to be seen. What is certain, though, is that the Cavaliers’ next game is an important one as they play their highest-ranked opponent yet and attempt to set the tone for their upcoming conference schedule.
(09/18/08 5:02am)
The Virginia women’s soccer team has certainly been tested in the non-conference schedule so far this season; a 1-1 tie to Auburn and a 2-1 victory on a go-ahead goal in the 87th minute against Dartmouth testify to that. In Virginia’s upcoming conference schedule, however, these types of tests will become the rule rather than the exception.As a microcosm of the elite status of the ACC, consider Miami. According to the 2008 preseason coaches’ poll, the Miami women’s soccer team was ranked seventh in the ACC. What is staggering, though, is according to Soccer Buzz Magazine’s Sept. 8 poll, Miami was ranked 28th nationally. With its conference schedule just around the corner, Miami has managed to defeat seven of the eight teams it has played, shutting out six and out-scoring its non-conference opponents 16-2.So, was it lack of respect for Miami that led to such a low ranking in the ACC prior to the start of the season? Likely not. While Miami is already laying the groundwork for a great season, no teams ranked ahead of them in the ACC have shown any glaring weaknesses. Miami’s low ranking is more indicative of how high the level of competition is in the conference.“Year in year out it’s the elite conference,” North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said.The ACC, however, seems to be more than just an elite conference; it could be the best. Of the 12 schools that make up the ACC, 11 have women’s soccer programs. In non-conference play so far this season, these 11 teams have already accumulated 60 wins in just 77 games — outscoring their opponents by a whopping 205-56. Seven ACC women’s soccer players were named pre-season All-Americans, and eight were named to the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List.“I feel pretty confident [the ACC] is the best conference in the country,” Maryland coach Brian Pensky said. “With what [the ACC coaches] are doing around the league, consistently we have three or four or five teams that are top 10 in the country. Recruiting classes, from year to year, we have two or three in the top 5 in the country.”Many conferences in the country have extremely good teams like the ACC. What makes the level of play in the ACC so challenging, however, is its depth.“I think what makes the ACC even more special is that from top to bottom there aren’t big gaps,” Florida State coach Mark Krikorian said. “Where in many of the other conferences some of their top teams are very good, but on the bottom end there is big separation between the top and the bottom. I don’t think we have that in the ACC.”Even the team at the very bottom of the ACC table, Maryland, is 3-3-1. With six teams ranked in the top 25 nationally, players and coaches across the conference agreed that Maryland or any other team at the bottom of the ACC standings presents a challenge.“There’s no day off,” Pensky said. “All the coaches feel like the ‘bottom of the league’ — the Marylands, the Virginia Techs, the N.C. States, the Miamis, the Clemsons — are all getting better and better every year to where you can’t go to Maryland or go to N.C. State on a weekend and think, ‘Let’s get out of here with a three- or four-nothing win.’ You know it’s a battle.”Last season, eight of the Terrapins’ nine losses came against ACC teams, and five came from goals scored in the last two minutes of regulation or in overtime. It may seem a disadvantage for teams in the ACC to be forced to play such a demanding schedule year after year; however, most coaches and even players see an upside.“It’s a tremendous positive to be able to play the teams that we play over the course of the regular season,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “It’s a great training round, so to speak, for the postseason.”What is interesting about the ACC is the cause of its superiority in the sport of women’s soccer. The success of sports programs on the collegiate and national level usually stems from monetary support. It seems, on the other hand, that in the ACC other factors are the driving force.“In the Big 12 [Conference] and the [Southeastern Conference], the schools are throwing a lot of money into women’s soccer that, quite honestly, isn’t being put into women’s soccer in our conference,” Pensky said.Yet, there is no doubt the best soccer players still want to play in the ACC.“Being in the ACC was a big draw [for my going to Virginia],” Virginia freshman Lauren Alwine said.One of the big factors that seems to influence recruiting for the ACC is not just the quality of the soccer, but the quality of the education the conference schools have to offer.“The schools in the conference are very attractive schools,” Dorrance said. “As a result, we attract a lion’s share of the elite youth players.”All 12 of the ACC’s schools are ranked in the top 105 colleges by U.S. News and World Report.“Right here in Virginia, UNC, Duke and Wake Forest and Boston College — those are all outstanding educations that these women can leave school with in four years with just a total package of personal experience and athletic experience and obviously an outstanding degree,” Pensky said.The coaching in ACC women’s soccer also certainly rivals the best in country and perpetuates conference success. At North Carolina, Dorrance is in a category of his own. He has a career record of 648-32-19 and has led the Tar Heels to 18 NCAA titles; between 1982 and 2000, only three championships were not won by UNC. Since 2000, North Carolina has added two more championships to its decorated history, making it the foundation upon which the ACC’s tradition of success has been built.“In a lot of ways I think you need to give Anson credit,” Pensky said. “I think Anson has been kind of the father of women’s college soccer ... It all needs a beginning, and I think that beginning starts with North Carolina.”Historically speaking, North Carolina’s dominance in the sport of women’s soccer is unquestioned. In recent history, however, the parity within the ACC has increased.“Virginia’s been good, and N.C. State had its share of runs back in the early ‘90s competing against North Carolina,” Pensky said. “But I think the beginning has to start with Anson, and then I think after that the coaches in this league.”While ACC dominance is still very much the theme of collegiate women’s soccer, rapid growth of the sport around the country threatens. With the introduction of Title IX and the wealth of opportunities it has opened up for women in athletics, other conferences seem to be picking up the slack.“I think entire conferences have been established because of Title IX,” Dorrance said. “I think the SEC jumped into women’s soccer because of a lawsuit that was brought against one of the schools in the conference. I think out of fear of further litigation the SEC was born. There is no question that Title IX has benefited all of us in women’s athletics.”Following North Carolina’s NCAA championship in 2000, the national trophy has fallen out of the hands of the ACC five of the last seven years.“In my experience — I’ve been in the Ivy League, I’ve been in the Pac 10 — I’ve seen a lot of the conferences, and I’ve seen a lot of them develop over the year,” Swanson said. “I think there is no question that the parity between the conferences is much more even now than it has ever been.”The world of women’s collegiate soccer is changing. Every year it becomes more and more competitive — not just within the ACC, but within the entire NCAA. The ACC, however, continues to strive to maintain its superiority in the sport. This weekend marks the last weekend of non-conference play before ACC teams meet for the first time this season and get a chance to truly test their months of preparation and training. So get ready for some dog fights. If you want to see women’s soccer played at its finest, look no further than the ACC.
(09/15/08 7:35am)
The No. 9 Virginia women’s soccer team won the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic tournament at Klöckner Stadium this weekend, defeating William & Mary 2-1 Friday and Dartmouth 2-1 yesterday. With these two wins, Virginia moves to 6-0-1.After facing the then-No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions to open the season, William & Mary was not flustered by the level of play on Virginia’s side of the ball. The Tribe defense bent under the Cavaliers’ first half attack, allowing seven shots on goal among 12 shots in that half, but it did not break.“They come in here, they are organized,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “They put a lot of numbers behind the ball ... so it may not be until later in the game when we’re trying to find some cracks here that we break open [the game].”While the Cavaliers controlled the ball, as the Tribe managed only one shot in the first 45 minutes, Virginia was could not find the back of the net; however, in the first minute of the second half, senior defender Nikki Krzysik assisted freshman forward Lauren Alwine to the Cavaliers’ first score. Just 90 seconds later, Alwine assisted sophomore forward Meghan Lenczyk to give Virginia a two-goal lead.“I think we are capable of scoring in bunches,” Swanson said. “I think we are capable of scoring in a multitude of ways.”Just more than 8 minutes later, William & Mary managed to get one past senior goalie Celeste Miles. Neither team scored again as the game settled down; William & Mary failed to take another shot in the second half.“We were very close in the first half to breaking it open,” Swanson said. “But you know it’s tough, these teams are good teams. ... I would have liked to have got some of those goals earlier, but it’s not like we weren’t creating chances.”With just 8 minutes left in the game yesterday against Dartmouth, Virginia had another chance to go ahead 2-1. Dartmouth goalie Laurel Peak, however, stepped up to make the save and keep the game headed toward overtime. Despite Peak’s efforts, in the 87th minute, Alwine passed the ball downfield to Lenczyk, who got by the lone defender on a fake and scored. With this second game-winning goal, Lenczyk stamped the Cavaliers’ victory and the tournament.“A lot of it was getting unlucky — not placing it in the corners of the goal,” Lenczyk said. ”And finally [after enough shots], a goal has to come.”Lenczyk became a starter in the first of Virginia’s two away games in Georgia last weekend. After the game yesterday, Lenczyk leads the team in scoring, with six goals, already matching her total from last season. Her performance this weekend earned her a spot on the all-tournament team along with Krzysik and Miles. Alwine, with her two assists and one goal, was named the tournament’s most valuable player.“Offensively our team worked well together this weekend,” Alwine said. “But it was every single player that contributed to those goals — it was a team effort.”Though Virginia seemed less impressive than in previous games, especially if the matches are compared along the goal differentials, Swanson remains outcome-oriented.“Our performance today left a lot to be desired,” Swanson said, adding, though, “it was a win. I’m happy with the results. We are happy to win our tournament.”The Cavaliers travel to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers next Sunday in their final game prior to their conference schedule.
(09/12/08 9:32am)
The Virginia women’s soccer team will host the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic at Klöckner Stadium this weekend. Four teams will be involved, and the Cavaliers will play in-state rival William & Mary tonight and Dartmouth Sunday..Last weekend, Virginia (4-0-1) played in the Georgia Nike Invitational, defeating Georgia 1-0 and tying Auburn 1-1. While the Cavaliers remain undefeated, and while beating then-ranked Georgia on the Bulldogs’ home turf was an accomplishment, a tie against Auburn was likely a disappointment for the Cavaliers. The tie seems to have been a consequence, at least in part, of a problem the Cavaliers suffered from earlier in the season: taking quality shots.“There’s a fine line, because you want your players to be taking shots,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said following the Cavaliers’ game against Liberty earlier in the season. “You just have to make sure they are quality chances — they are quality shots, and they really have a chance for us to beat the keeper. You know, you don’t get any points for shots [that don’t score].”Against Auburn, Virginia outshot the Tigers 24-7 and took seven corner kicks while Auburn had zero. Auburn’s lone goal came in the 87th minute off a highly-protested penalty kick. The Cavaliers also had a chance to match with their own chance at a penalty kick, but failed to convert when senior defender Nikki Krzysik was unable to find the back of the net.The Cavaliers will look to improve their shooting accuracy against the Tribe (2-2-1) at 7 p.m. tonight. William & Mary’s weak record may be misleading; the Tribe will present a challenge for the Cavaliers. One of the Tribe’s losses was delivered by then-No. 9 Penn State, while the other came in a game in which William & Mary outshot Columbia 18-7 but was victim to an outside shot early in the game. The Tribe’s seasoned leadership likely will also prove helpful as the season continues. William & Mary coach John Daly recently coached his 450th match with the Tribe — a benchmark only five other NCAA coaches have reached. On the field, William & Mary is led by capable senior forward Claire Zimmeck, who has already four goals on the season.Dartmouth (1-0-0), however, may not have that leadership advantage this weekend. Because of two game cancellations, The Big Green has only played one game — a win against Monmouth at home. For Dartmouth to succeed, the team will have to overcome playing its first ranked team of the season as well as its first away game. The Big Green will also be at a disadvantage having only played one game compared to the four or five most teams in the NCAA have already played.Virginia and Dartmouth already had a chance to face off during the spring season. In the hard-fought match, Virginia edged out Dartmouth 1-0.Once again, the Cavaliers will be playing two games they are expected to win. Unlike in previous matches, however, this time Virginia will be forced to shrug off an unnerving tie to Auburn. “As soon as the whistle blows, it’s done with — you put that behind you — win or lose,” senior midfielder Kelly Quinn said. “We watch film, but it’s only to look at what we did wrong and put that toward the next game.”So far this season, Virginia has managed to drastically outshoot its opponents. Converting these shots to goals more effectively could allow Virginia to dominate the competition.
(09/05/08 7:45am)
The Virginia women’s soccer team will begin its away season today, traveling to Athens, Ga. to take on Georgia and Auburn in two games of the Georgia Nike Invitational. Coach Steve Swanson said Virginia's biggest challenge will be staying focused in a season already full of success.“Good teams don’t really understand how to handle success,” Swanson said. “Great teams — teams that win championships — know how to handle that.”Having already won their first three games by sizeable margins, the Cavaliers (3-0) have had a chance to enjoy success. Swanson noted, however, the importance of not taking any teams for granted, mentioning various upsets that have already occurred in the ACC. This weekend will be an opportunity to see how Virginia performs away from Klöckner Stadium against more challenging competition. The first of these two games, against Georgia, will be especially tough — Georgia will be Virginia’s first ranked opponent of the season — so the team will have to play to its strengths.One of the keys to Virginia’s success thus far is that the Cavaliers have yet to allow a goal. This is likely driven by a combination of factors. Virginia uses its high-powered offense and midfielders to extend pressure on the other team. This pressure often causes opponents to be unable to establish coherent transitions from their defensive side of the field to their offense.“In our first game against Loyola, I thought our defense did a great job of not letting the team get behind us once,” Swanson said. He added that against Liberty, "it was more us putting a little better pressure on the ball up the field where it doesn’t get to the point where they’re serving it. I think a couple times they were just looking to counter on us.”In addition to the up-field pressure, the Cavaliers have an experienced senior goalie in Celeste Miles behind a solid defensive line. While Miles has made many key plays in maintaining Virginia’s shutout season thus far, she has yet to record a save. This seems to be more a credit to sound defense from the Cavaliers' back line than anything else.“I think that the shutouts have been a great team effort — made it pretty easy for me,” Miles said. “We are just building on each game, getting better as a defense and a team.”Georgia (2-1) is currently No. 22 nationally; its most noteworthy game has been a 4-1 loss to BYU. This weekend, the Bulldogs will get a chance to overcome that loss and prove themselves by playing No. 6 Virginia and No. 7 Stanford. One thing Georgia will have in its favor is home field advantage.Like Georgia, Auburn (2-2) will be playing both Stanford and Virginia in the Invitational. Unranked Auburn, fifth in the Western division of the SEC, will likely be outmatched in many positions against both Virginia and Auburn.“We’ve had such a deep bench over the year," Swanson said. "I really like to spread the scoring out.” Look for Virginia to take advantage of its depth this weekend, as it has throughout the season. Through three games, Virginia has had 17 different players record a point, including eight different goal scorers, creating a spread distribution of 14 goals and odds that will certainly benefit the team against tougher opponents.
(09/04/08 4:05am)
Last season, the Virginia women’s soccer team had one of the best defenses in the country. With a nation-best 0.40 goals allowed per game, the Cavaliers managed to pull off 14 shutouts and allowed only 10 goals all season. The great defense was thanks in part to then-freshman goalie Chantel Jones, who posted 13 shutouts and a save percentage of 0.88, which ranked in the top 10 nationally.Hopes to continue utilizing the All-American keeper on the field were dashed, however, when Jones took this season off to play for the U.S. in the U-20 World Cup. Senior goalie Celeste Miles was next in line to start.“Every year I know I’ll be competing [for a spot] against really great goalkeepers,” Miles said. “But I never really settled to be the backup.”Until this year, Miles had never started in a regular-season game. In fact, in her previous three seasons with the team, she only made appearances in five games. Now, in her last year with Virginia — in a season when the Cavaliers are already recognized as one of the premier teams in the country — Miles will take her place as the go-to person between the posts.“I’m just really excited to be able to contribute to my team on the field,” Miles said. “It’s good timing for me [in my] last year.”Miles is not in an easy position, though; the person who held her spot previously is one of the best collegiate goalies in the country. Miles plays for a team that has set its expectations as high as they get: to win the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Moreover, Miles plays a position in sports that is proverbially known as the most stressful and least rewarding. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Miles seems confident.“People say that the goalkeeper is the first to get the blame and the first to get the glory, as well,” Miles said. “It comes with the job. Both Chantel and I have been doing it for a while. It’s all part of the mentality.”Miles’ play thus far this season indicates she was ready to take the job. Though Miles has not been tested in the same fashion in which she will be later in the season, when the Cavaliers face tougher opponents, she has done her job in her first three starts, posting three shutouts. Some of her success could be due to a strong back line, but her aptitude for the position is evident, as her coach articulated.“We weren’t expecting the situation we’re in,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “But I think you can’t ask for anyone better to be in that situation than Celeste. I think it’s a credit to her that she has prepared herself so well over the past three years ... She’s given everything she has, and I think she’s got the whole team behind her.”Though Jones and Miles were competing for the same position last year, the two have always maintained a strong, positive relationship. Despite the fact that Jones doesn’t appear in games, she still shows up to cheer on the team and even to warm up Miles before the game starts, just as Miles assisted Jones the year before.“When Chantel came in, my role was helping to prepare her for each game,” Miles said. “Now the role is kind of reversed. When she got the starting role, I was her biggest fan. Now that I’m in there, she’s my biggest fan.”Swanson noted Miles’ patience in waiting for her time to come.“She’s never complained once, never worked any less on the training field,” Swanson said.Miles said she has come into every season knowing she likely was not the first pick to start. For someone who has worked hard in practice with only team success as her goal, while taking a backseat in playing time and accolades for three years, Miles’ time has finally arrived, and her excitement at this opportunity is contagious for the entire squad.Miles “has been remarkably consistent,” Swanson said. “She’s capable of making the big saves. The big thing is — does the coaching staff and does the team have confidence in her? Absolutely, and she’s earned that, so she deserves all the credit ... I think she is the kind of kid that you can just hold up as a role model for how to train, how to be a great student athlete and how to be prepared for when your time comes.”
(09/02/08 7:41am)
The Virginia women’s soccer team finished its opening three-game home stand by defeating Liberty 5-0 and Virginia Commonwealth 5-0 Friday and Sunday, respectively. Virginia’s first home game was a 4-0 victory against Loyola Aug. 22.Though the Cavaliers started off both games slowly — scoring only one goal in the first 61 minutes of the game against Liberty and only one goal in the first 56 minutes against VCU — they came alive toward the end of both games, blowing out and shutting out both teams.“We like where we are right now, obviously,” Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. “But we also know we’ve got a long way to go.”Though the Cavaliers sent Liberty home Friday with a 5-0 shutout loss, it seemed to be a struggle for Virginia to put quality shots on goal; the Cavaliers managed only one goal on 18 shots in the first half.“Typically our games are like that — we have a lot of shots,” sophomore forward Meghan Lenczyk said. “I think we we’re just getting a little bit unlucky. We were taking our chances, but I feel like in the second half the flow was just better, and finally once we got one, it made it easier to score more.”Indeed, it did seem like one Cavalier, Lenczyk, was finding the back of the net more easily than her teammates. Lenczyk came off the bench for Virginia — playing only a total of 50 minutes in the game — and scored the team’s second and third goals in rapid succession in the 62nd and 63rd minutes. Fourteen minutes later, Lenczyk scored the Cavaliers’ fourth goal, completing just the ninth hat trick in Virginia women’s soccer history.“I attribute a lot of it just to my teammates playing me good balls and setting me up,” Lenczyk said about her career-best game. “And I guess I was just in the right place at the right time.” The Cavaliers blew the game wide open in the second half, scoring four goals and putting the game out of reach for the Flames.“We talked at halftime that we were settling for shots that were low percentage shots for us,” Swanson said. “I think there were times we could have gotten in a little closer, moved the ball a little better and generated a better chance. I think once we did that, we scored.”Virginia’s momentum continued into Sunday’s match, when the Cavaliers once again managed to soundly defeat their in-state competition by shutting out VCU 5-0. “I thought this was probably our best performance of the season from start to finish,” Swanson said. “I was really pleased with how hard we competed. I thought we did some good things in terms of a competitive mentality — a battling attitude.”In addition to the competitive mentality, the Cavaliers improved the quality of their shots. It took the team only 16 shots to score five times, compared to the 38 it took them Friday to score the same number.The competition Virginia has faced thus far by no means compares to the level of play the Cavaliers can expect for the rest of the season. Seven of the teams the Cavaliers are set to face are nationally ranked, including five of Virginia’s nine ACC opponents.“We know we’ve got a lot of work to do down the road,” Swanson said. “We know our tougher games are probably ahead of us, but at the same you look at all the upsets going on around the country — [and you realize] these aren’t gimme games. Our sport can be a tough sport at times where you can come and dominate and not win. But we like where we are right now and we realize we’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got to get better, and we’ll start that tomorrow.”
(08/28/08 10:07pm)
While most University students have been slowly easing themselves into the routine of classes and extracurricular activities, the women’s soccer team has already played two exhibition games and one regular-season game. This weekend, Virginia looks to make its record 3-0 when the Cavaliers take on Liberty and Virginia Commonwealth.On paper, the differences between the three teams are stark. Currently, Virginia holds a top-10 national ranking, whereas Liberty and VCU are not ranked among the top 25. Virginia has been picked to finish third in the ACC, one of the best women’s soccer conferences in the nation. Meanwhile, Liberty was picked to finish third in the Big South Conference and VCU is expected to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association, both relatively unknown conferences that do not have a team in the top 25.If Cavalier fans think Virginia is planning on coasting into these weekend games, however, they are wrong.“When you step onto the field every time, you’re not going to know what to expect,” freshman forward Lauren Alwine said. “But the exhibition games have really helped.”It is certainly true that anything can happen in sports. It is especially true, though, for a low-scoring sport like soccer, where one goal can make a huge impact. With one blown clearance from a defender on the back line or one mishandled ball from a goalie, the unexpected becomes much more possible. The Cavaliers, though, do not seem ready to let the unexpected happen to them.“In the past, like last year, we had all ties,” senior midfielder Kelly Quinn said. “Sometimes when you lose easy games it doesn’t give you a good draw for the tournament. So this year our big goal is to win every season game.”When your goal is to win every game, the smaller, seemingly less important games, become exactly the opposite. Virginia will spend the whole season gearing up for its games against teams such as Florida State and North Carolina, but it will take serious focus to give this weekend’s games all the attention and preparation they give to tough in-conference opponents.“Everyone is going to give us their best game,” Quinn said. “Every game for them, it’s like a huge game. We can’t look ahead and look at these North Carolina teams. We have to look at every game — Loyola, everyone — one at a time.”With Virginia in the right mentality, the Lady Flames will have to bounce back from an 0-2 season opening loss against Longwood last Friday. Liberty’s biggest challenge this season will be adjusting to its new coaching staff as Jessica Celi and Abby Crumpton take the role as head and assistant coach, respectively. Liberty hopes Celi’s reputation as a strong recruiter will become evident in the coming seasons.VCU, on the other hand, has yet to open its season, although it lost a tightly contested exhibition with the Washington Freedom — formerly of the WUSA, the first professional women’s soccer league — and will play at nearby Richmond Friday before coming to Charlottesville Sunday.As for the Cavaliers, they won their last game 4-0 against Loyola but still saw room for improvement.“We won, we scored four goals, and we didn’t even play as good as we could play,” Quinn said. “We do watch film, but it’s only to look at what we did wrong and put that towards the next game.”Look for Virginia to try to win this weekend by playing solid defense that the team will use to create opportunities for its midfield and forwards. The Cavaliers outshot Loyola 26-1 and took all 11 corner kicks in the match. If they can dominate offensively in these upcoming games, Liberty and VCU will find it challenging to pull off an upset.In this weekend of forgone conclusions, the Virginia women’s soccer team hopes to do what the Cavalier football team hopes USC won’t: win in situations which they have everything to lose and nothing to gain.
(08/27/08 9:37pm)
For the eighth straight year the Virginia women’s soccer team enters the season ranked in the top three in the ACC, a women’s soccer powerhouse conference. Although the Cavaliers are ranked behind North Carolina and Florida State, they are ranked No. 6 nationally. At the professional level, teams are able to lock up players with long-term deals, allowing one team to dominate a sport for long periods of time. Such sustained excellence is more difficult at the college level, though, because players usually do not remain on a college team for more than five years.“I think every year’s a new team; you lose people, you add people,” senior defender Nikki Krzysik said. “I think that’s what this part of the season is right now: building and learning the first-years’ strength and weaknesses.”The Cavaliers had a chance to test those strengths and weaknesses in two exhibition games against Notre Dame and Georgetown, adding a tie and a win to their record, respectively, before their first regular-season game last Friday, in which they defeated Loyola 4-0.The Cavaliers have sustained their success thanks in large part to strong recruiting. Last year midfielder Sinead Farrelly, a freshman at the time, earned first-team All-ACC honors with a five-goal, four-assist rookie season. Between the posts, Virginia possessed another stand-out freshman last year in goalie Chantel Jones, who became a first-team freshman All-American. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, Jones will be playing in the U-20 World Cup this year and will be unavailable to play for Virginia. Luckily, though, the team will be supported by another highly ranked recruiting class. The Cavaliers can look forward to two high school All-Americans as well as several youth All-Americans and athletes possessing experience with youth national teams.“I think what we are working toward right now is coming together ... and incorporating the new kids in and fill in those spots of the players that we’ve lost,” Krzysik said, “We have people to fill the spots — it’s just now linking up.”So Virginia has the players and the talent to be good, but how are the Cavaliers going to translate that into success on the field throughout the season? The coach typically plays a significant role in encouraging new players’ growth, but with a team like Virginia, it makes sense that coach Steven Swanson uses his senior leaders to facilitate a smooth transition each year.“I think we do a lot of things over the course of the year to encourage our team to grow off the field and to encourage our leaders to grow,” Swanson said, “[The seniors] have worked awfully hard during their time here: They’ve paid their dues; I think they know what the team stands for, they know what’s demanded, they know the standards, and I think they are the best people to impart that onto the younger players.”Another way the Cavaliers succeed year in and year out is through the standards Swanson mentioned. The team expects and demands excellence from every part of the program. Not settling for less is a mindset that can motivate a team. If you ask any member of the Virginia women’s soccer team what the team’s goal for the season is, she will tell you the team wants to win the ACC and the NCAA championships. On a more specific level, though, in each game the Cavaliers want perfection. “I think it was a positive in that we got the result,” Swanson said of last Friday’s win against Loyola. “But, although we had 26 shots, although we had 11 corners, I don’t know how many of those were really dangerous. There’s a lot of things we can improve on.”Although their next game is against Liberty Friday, the Cavaliers will need to improve once they move into their conference schedule later in the season, where they will play other nationally ranked teams. The away match against Florida State and the home game against North Carolina will be especially hard fought. Even with this difficult schedule, expect the team to finish in the top half of the ACC and have a lengthy, if not great, post-season.But if the Cavaliers fall short of perfection this season, just remember: They will certainly be going for it again next year.
(08/26/08 8:45pm)
“I think every year and every season our expectation and our goal is to win the ACC Tournament and win the national championship,” senior goalie Celeste Miles said, following the Cavaliers’ last exhibition game.Goals and expectations are, of course, a constant theme in sports — either for an upcoming game, or even a whole season. These expectations seem to make all the difference in sports; they define success. Virginia women’s soccer is no different. The team’s strength and confidence, however, may be as much of a burden as a blessing as the team strives for perfection. “We are fortunate enough to have such a good program, such good players around the nation,” senior midfielder Kelly Quinn said. “We are expected to be a Final Four team every year. Every game we want to win ... so this year our big goal is to win every season game and don’t tie and don’t lose those easy ones you shouldn’t.”No one doubts the Cavaliers have a strong program, but herein lies the added pressure. Last season, for example, the Duke men’s basketball team got knocked out early of both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. The majority of sports fans may have considered that to be a less-than-successful season for the Blue Devils. If, however, the Virginia basketball team had managed to make the NCAA Tournament at all, most fans here might have considered that a successful season for the Cavaliers because they reached a goal and exceeded expectations. Aiming for perfection, though, creates a very small target to hit. “I think the players that have played here, especially in my time, they take a lot of pride in the history of the program,” coach Steve Swanson said. “I think there is a lot of pride in pushing the program forward and trying to add to that.”As ambitious as this season’s expectations may be, they are by no means unrealistic. The Cavaliers are returning nine starters from a team that ended last season with a top-10 ranking. This includes senior Nikki Krzysik — an All-American last year and a pre-season All-American this year — who leads a defensive line that let up only 0.4 goals a game last season.The Cavaliers had a promising start toward their goals Friday with their first game against Loyola. The Cavaliers shut out the Greyhounds 4-0, outshooting them 26-1.Virginia, which went into the game ranked No. 6 nationally, will not use its victory as an excuse to relax.“I think we actually should have scored more,” said Quinn, who scored two goals. “I think we looked tired and we still have a lot of work to do.” As the season continues, the challenges will only get tougher. The Cavaliers are set to play eight ranked opponents and must deal with their loss of alumna Shannon Foley, who was last year’s leading goal-scorer, and their star goalie Chantel Jones, a freshman All-American last year who will be sitting out the season to play in the U-20 World Cup.Despite the challenges, many expect the Cavaliers to make a run at the ACC Championship and go deep in the NCAA Championship. They had a lot of close games and ties last year, and if they can reverse that trend this year, they could earn a good seed in the NCAA Tournament.“We have a target on our back,” Quinn said. Everyone is going to give us their best game.”
(04/23/08 4:00am)
With two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, Virginia sophomore third basemen Tyler Cannon faced a full count. With the Cavalier fans clapping in time in support, Cannon drove a base-clearing double over the head of the left fielder to the warning track. These runs gave the Virginia baseball team a commanding four-run lead, two more than the team would need to defeat Georgetown 9-1 last night.
(04/22/08 4:00am)
Despite ending the first day of the 20th annual ACC Championship with a huge lead and maintaining a tie for first through the second day of competition, the Virginia women's golf team slipped during the third day to finish the tournament in second place, one stroke shy of Duke.