The University of Virginia women's soccer team is in the middle of a crucial stretch in its season. The 18th-ranked Cavaliers will play two of the nation's best this weekend in No. 2 Santa Clara and No. 22 University of Southern California.
The Cavaliers are in the midst of playing four nationally ranked teams in a row. Last weekend, the Cavaliers lost their first game of the season to 15th-ranked Ohio State, 1-0. The Cavaliers bounced back, however, and played Dayton to a 1-1 tie. Dayton is currently tied for the 22nd ranking with USC.
It was a frustrating weekend for the team, as they struggled to score. The Cavaliers outshot their opponents last weekend a combined 42-15 but could not turn their shots into goals.
"It was frustrating," junior defender Katie Bunch said. "We were getting great chances and playing really well, we just weren't getting the goals."
The offense has gotten off to a rough start this season. The Cavaliers have only scored four goals this year. The lack of offense, however, is not because of lack of effort, as the Cavaliers have registered 62 shots on the season -- 28 of which were on-goal.
Despite Virginia's troubles, coach Steve Swanson has recognized his team's effort on the field.
"There are little things we can fix," Swanson said. "But overall, if you take the number of minutes we've played this season I could count on two hands the number of minutes we need to clean up. Having said that, I think we're playing quite well."
Part of the problem has been the defensive strategy employed by Virginia's recent opponents. Many teams, including Dayton and William & Mary, have stacked players in the defensive area of the field to focus on stopping Virginia's offense. The Cavaliers will look to turn around their fortunes this weekend as the teams they are playing this weekend may not follow this conservative strategy.
"Both of these teams are solid on both sides of the ball," Swanson said, "but we are too."
Virginia is looking to return to the top-10 with two strong performances this weekend. Virginia started the season with two hard fought wins over West Virginia and William & Mary. The Cavaliers started the season ranked 11th and climbed up to eighth before slipping this past weekend to 18th.
Swanson thinks the Virginia offense will break out this weekend.
"The name of our game right now is putting the ball in the back of the net," Swanson said.
The Cavaliers may be forced to play a defensive game against Santa Clara, a team that averages four goals per game. The game will pit a strong offense against a solid defense. The Virginia defense has stifled their opponent's offense, allowing only three goals and limiting Virginia opponents to 26 shots. The Cavalier defense has only allowed 0.71 goals per game, and the Virginia defenders are looking forward to this game.
Bunch, for one, is excited to play a more offensive-minded team for a change.
"We are excited about it. These teams won't pack it in," Bunch said. "They'll try to play soccer against us."
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