The Virginia women's soccer team does not have much time to celebrate its close victory over Maryland on Wednesday night, as it will face James Madison (6-4-1) tomorrow night.
Although the No. 13 Cavaliers are heavily favored to win against the Dukes, they are taking the in-state rivalry seriously.
"I think it's going to be a hard game," freshman forward Lindsay Gusick said. "We need to just compete and play hard."
James Madison and Virginia have played only two of the same teams - N.C. State and Mississippi - so far this season. Virginia has beaten both of them, but JMU lost to NC State.
Even though JMU has allowed 202 shots on goal and only taken 183 shots this season, Virginia coach Steve Swanson knows that at 8-2-1, and with a No. 13 ranking, the Cavaliers are the team to beat for many unranked teams.
"I think we've got to understand that we've got the bull's eye on our back," Swanson said. "People are [trying] hard to upset us because it can make their season, so we have to be prepared for that."
The Cavaliers defeated Maryland on Wednesday when Gusick scored the game's only goal with 23 minutes left on the clock. Gusick doesn't want to leave the scoring for so late in the game next time.
"I think the key for us is we need to play 90 minutes and try to get a goal early because the longer we allow the game to be tied, the harder it is in the end," she said.
The Dukes have been outscored, 12-9, in the first half of play so far this season. Virginia must play out all 90 minutes, however, because JMU has a 9-6 edge in second-half scoring.
The Cavaliers' game on Saturday starts a two-game in-state road trip that ends in Richmond on Oct. 17. Then they will pick up conference play again at Duke on Oct. 20. The Cavaliers are 2-1 in ACC play, and hope to land a few more wins before they come home to take on top-ranked UNC on Oct. 25.
The Cavaliers seem to be building some good momentum to take them into the next set of league games.
"It's important to keep our momentum going," Swanson said going into Wednesday night's match.
The Cavaliers kept the momentum going, but only scored one goal - and rather late in the game - on their home turf.
Now Virginia must take to the road. The Cavaliers have had one of their two losses and their only tie on the road.
Hopefully by playing JMU and Richmond, they can snowball their momentum and carry some more confidence.
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