Coming off a 2-1 come-from-behind win against Virginia Tech Wednesday night, the No. 16 Virginia men's soccer team prepares to face No. 12 North Carolina tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Klockner Stadium.
The Cavaliers have not lost to the Tar Heels in Charlottesville since 1977, and have won 20 of their last 23 games against North Carolina.
In their meeting last year in Chapel Hill, Virginia claimed a 2-0 victory over the Heels in their third ACC game of the season.
This year both the Cavaliers (4-2-1, 0-1-1 ACC) and Carolina (5-1, 1-0) will meet in their second ACC game. With the Tar Heels coming off a five game winning streak and Virginia suffering a sub-par start to the 1999 season, this weekend's match will prove to be a challenge for both teams.
"We just have to work hard," first-year midfielder Kyle Martino said. "They're a great team - all of their starters are returning. We have to go out there and play hard to get a win."
Returning all of last years starters as well as adding a new crop of talented freshmen, Carolina fields a young team that boasts a successful season despite their inexperience.
"They're very young," Cav coach George Gelnovatch said. "Last year, they started about seven or eight freshmen, so they're returning everyone."
Led offensively by sophomore forward Chris Carrieri and junior midfielder Michael Bucy, the Heels have outscored their opponents 20-8 and have taken more than twice the number of shots (103 to 50) as their competitors.
The Heels also boast the No. 3 goalkeeper in the ACC, Michael Ueltschey. Ueltschey has allowed just eight goals in the last seven matches, and the Heels have gone 6-0 this year with Ueltschey starting in the goal.
With many close games this season often coming down to only one goal, Virginia has found difficulty converting their attempts into numbers on the score board.
Posting 16 shots against the Hokies earlier this week, the Cavaliers managed to nab only two goals. Tech gained only two attempts, but scored within the first 33 seconds of the game.
But some Cav players said they are not too concerned with the low percentage of goals scored from shots taken. Virginia looks to play strong against North Carolina, scoring early in the match.
"We need to make sure that we don't get any lapses in the game," Martino said. "We need to stay confident and focused for the whole game."
Riding on the confidence gained from the two goals that first-years Martino and Ryan Gibbs scored in the match against Tech, Virginia looks positively at their ability to score against Carolina's young defensive corps.
"They're just a good team. They're sound defensively," Gelnovatch said. "But I don't have a question that we're going to score. We're good enough to score."
Read More
Virginia adds six promising players in second week of the transfer period
By Peter Kriebel | 2 days agoVirginia has reinforced several positions throughout its roster, and more additions may be on the way.
Reflecting on a year of incredible achievement by women’s sports at Virginia
By Eleanor Buchanan , Caroline Wulff and Cierra Lyles | 3 days agoThree Cavalier Daily staff writers share their thoughts on 2024 highlights.
Late run pushes men’s basketball past American
By Thomas Baxter | 4 days agoVirginia squeezed out a win to end non-conference play.
