As its regular season comes to a close, the Virginia men's soccer team might have forgotten what it's like to lose a game.
With 14 victories under their belt, the Cavaliers head to College Park, Md., on Sunday to face tough competition from Maryland (7-6-1, 0-3-1 ACC). The match, which will be Virginia's final game in the ACC regular season, kicks off at 1 p.m. at Ludwig Field.
The No. 2 Cavaliers currently are 14-0-1, and their lone tie came against UCLA two months ago. Their last matchup against UNC-Greensboro resulted in yet another disappointed team discovering how difficult it is to end the Cavaliers' 13-game winning streak. Virginia established its dominance over UNCG (11-6-0) by scoring three goals in the first half. The second half was no letdown either, as the Cavaliers added four more goals. The final score, 7-1, marked Virginia's highest scoring game of the season.
While the Cavaliers took it to the Spartans on Tuesday night, the Terrapins worked on an easy victory of their own. Maryland defeated Holy Cross, 5-1. Standout midfielder Sumed Ibrahim has tallied six goals and an impressive nine assists for the Terrapins this season after scoring a goal and assisting another against Holy Cross. Forward A.J. Herrera follows close on Ibrahim's heels with five goals. Midfielder Bryan Vitagliano and co-captain Beckett Hollenbach both scored their first goals of the season in the Terrapins' victory over Holy Cross.
Sunday's game will give the Cavaliers an opportunity to prove they can maintain a high level of play, even though they already have earned a bye in the first round of the upcoming ACC tournament.
"We can't go in there with the attitude, 'We can lose a game, we're in the playoffs, we have a bye,'" junior Ryan Gibbs said. "We can't approach it like that. We have to approach every game like it is our national championship. That is the only way that we're going to progress and get better as a team and individuals."
Virginia looks to its offense to continue converting shots into goals against Maryland, as well as at the ACC tournament. Sophomore forward Alecko Eskandarian stands out on the team for contributing nine goals this season. Junior Ryan Gibbs put in seven goals and Kyle Martino put in five. In the matchup against UNCG, five different players scored the seven goals, proving the distribution of talent within Virginia's offense.
Virginia coach George Gelovatch offered further incentive for Virginia to take its potent offense and go out hard at Maryland.
"I think our thing is to go there and win the game," he said. "Our challenge is we have not won there in eight or nine years - against Maryland. This is one of our challenges this year"
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