Coming off a rough weekend of two close losses to South Carolina and Indiana at the Fila/Maryland Invitational, the Virginia men's soccer team has high hopes for victory in tonight's game against Northeastern.
The Cavaliers (2-2) play at home at 7 p.m. in George Gelnovatch's 100th game as Virginia coach. Four games into his fifth season at the helm, Gelnovatch is 67-22-10 overall.
Last week, the Cavs were ranked third in the coaches' poll and No. 1 in the Soccer America poll. After the two losses in College Park, they now appear at No. 17 and No. 11, respectively.
To improve their all-around play, the Cavs said they have several areas they plan to work on. Sophomore forward Ryan Gibbs said that the team needs "to come out and play a full 90 minutes. The last game, we had spurts. We want to play a full game together."
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Gibbs also said that the team hopes to work on "holding onto the ball, working with a combination of plays, finishing and scoring and bringing enthusiasm and excitement to the game."
In their two season-opening wins, the Cavs scored a total of 10 goals. Sophomore midfielder Kyle Martino, who was named the Virginia Soccer Classic MVP earlier this month after scoring one goal and dishing out two assists in the two Cavalier victories of the season, said they definitely need to rediscover their scoring touch against the Huskies (2-2). Northeastern has lost a pair of defenders, Jochen Saier and captain Ruben Claudio, to season-ending injuries.
"I think what's going to work best is going at them right away at full speed and high pressure, not giving their defense any time," Martino said. In addition, the Cavs hope to force the Husky defense to make some mistakes so they can score some early goals.
Martino also said he hopes to contribute by setting up the forwards to score goals.
"I'm going to have to be able to really find some ways to break the defense, whether it's on the dribble or whether it's with a pass," he said.
Both Gibbs and Martino agreed that the biggest key to Virginia's success will be the concentration of the team. With the home crowd behind them, the Cavs hope to bring a full 90 minutes of intensity to the Kl
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