The Virginia field hockey team will be on the road for the first time in nearly a month this Sunday when they travel to Winston-Salem to take on No. 1 Wake Forest.
The No. 20 Cavaliers (9-7) will have their hands full playing the top-ranked team in the nation, but are riding a two-game winning streak into the match against the Demon Deacons (13-1). The streak consists of victories over Cornell and St. Francis.
Despite the momentum, the team recognizes that they will have to step up their play to knock off the best team in the nation.
"They are the number one team in the country for a reason," Virginia coach Jessica Wilk said. "We're going to have to take better care of the ball, tighten up the defensively from our forwards on back and we are going to have to finish in the circle."
Virginia has not had difficulty meeting these standards the past two games. The team is in the midst of a 161-minute shutout streak spanning back to its match against North Carolina two weeks ago.
Offensively the Cavaliers have tallied 14 goals over the past two games. This total is the team's largest over any two-game span this year and its 10 goals against St. Francis is the most of the season.
Despite the recent success, the Cavaliers will be hard pressed to come out on victorious this weekend. Wake has held on to the top spot in the polls for the majority of the season and did not lose their first match of the year until just two weeks ago against Duke.
The Demon Deacons have dominated their competition, yielding only seven goals in 14 games this season while scoring 62. This skill displayed on both sides of the ball is not lost on the Cavaliers.
Wake Forest "has all-around amazing athletes, every one of their players is very skilled," sophomore Sarah Miller said. "They are all very determined, hard-working and disciplined. You just know there is not going to be one person you are out for, it is the whole team. We will just have to bring our best game."
If the Cavaliers were to win, the victory would help the team continue to build momentum heading into the post-season. After losing for five straight games in the middle of the year, Virginia has rebounded winning four of its last five.
But, in order for the Cavaliers to pull off the upset, they will have to correct the same problems that have plagued them against other top teams all season.
The most blaring tendency is the Cavaliers' lapses in defense for short spurts, allowing teams to get ahead early. The worst such spurt came in a match against Old Dominion when the team gave up three goals in 90 seconds.
Since that game, the team has taken it upon itself to prevent the lapses that have been costly in the past.
"We've talked about defensive recovery a lot and just getting back," Miller said. "It almost looks like we have too much confidence in our backs and we don't get back all the way."
Wake Forest represents the first of three tough games for the Cavaliers down the stretch. They will face games against nationally-ranked teams Duke and Boston College before hosting the ACC tournament the first week of November.
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