There's no place like home.
The Virginia men's soccer team faces off against Marshall tonight at 7 in Klockner Stadium for their sixth non-ACC match.
The Cavaliers hope to repair their 4-4 overall record (1-2 ACC), after breaking a four-game losing streak and landing the first conference win of their season with a shutout victory over North Carolina State 4-0 on Saturday.
"Everything was better," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said of the improvement exhibited last week. "Passing was better. Organization was better. Enthusiasm was better. Everything. There was a night and day difference between the way our team played tonight and the way we played in the last four games."
With some strong team cooperation and the support of 3,733 fans in the stands, the Cavs were able to secure the win and set the stage for the upcoming matches.
"We needed to make the little things happen, and that is what we did" Saturday, senior forward Rob Wright said. "To have a good season, you need the team to have a connection and play together. [Saturday] all 11 players had that connection. We were covering each other."
Even with a weathered veteran team, rookie freshmen players were able to break through and make decisive plays throughout the game, most notably in the second period with Paul Johnson's assist and Philip Long's goal.
The season continues tonight with a match against Marshall. Although the Cavaliers have outscored the Thundering Herd 10-1 over the course of the three-game series at home in Charlottesville, Marshall has had luck at Kl
ckner Stadium in the past.
In 1998, Marshall pulled past Adelphi and American in overtime to place first in U.Va.'s Coca-Cola Classic Tournament.
The Herd comes into tonight's match off a 2-0 road win against Western Michigan, following two earlier losses.
Virginia has been heavily influenced by the home turf advantage in the past, and is undefeated at home this season.
"Being at home makes a huge difference," said Gelnovatch, who compared schedules and noted that the Cavaliers' current record is not much worse than last year.
He attributed their four losses on the road to the fact that "we didn't really have our full team," due to injuries and red-card suspensions.
There is still work to be done despite the forecasted performance shift due to mere change of location.
"We were aware of the four-game losing streak," Wright said. "As Coach said, we had hit rock bottom. This season is far from over, and we just knew it was time to turn things around."
"I told the guys, we have 10 games left, and there might still be dips ahead," Gelnovatch said. "But we are headed in the right direction."
Virginia is set to play the next nine out of 10 regular season games at home.
Tonight's game against Marshall is the second of a three-game string at Kl
ckner, after which they will travel to their final road game of the year against Clemson on Oct. 13.
On a final note about Saturday's win, Gelnovatch said, "tonight was a step in the right direction. We found ourselves. We are still finding ourselves, having to dig out of a situation. But if we can dig out, if it doesn't kill us, it makes us stronger."
Virginia soccer fans are poised to see their stronger team in action tonight.
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