The No. 6 Virginia women's soccer team will be put to the test in a crucial ACC game against 18th ranked Duke in Durham, N.C. tomorrow.
With a 1-0 home victory Tuesday night against Maryland, Virginia improved its record to 11-1-2 on the season, 3-0-1 in the ACC. Sophomore midfielder Kelly Hammond, the team's leading scorer with ten goals and 24 points, scored the game's only goal on a back-heel early in the first half.
In the second half, field conditions greatly deteriorated and Virginia hung on for its seventh shutout of the season.
Senior goalkeeper Anne Abernathy has started in net for all 14 of the team's games, posting a stellar 0.65 GAA. Abernathy has allowed only nine goals on the season.
Virginia coach Steve Swanson said he was pleased with his team's determination and spirit in the win.
"We've won in all different types of ways this year," Swanson said. "We've come back, we've been up and Tuesday was more of a gut-it-out game --you couldn't play soccer. You just really had to play with a lot of heart and our team deserved a lot of credit."
Virginia remains undefeated at home thisyear (the team's only loss was at Ohio State) and currently is in the midst of an 11-gameunbeaten streak, third-longest in team history.
The team's 3-0-1 mark in the ACC is a stark contrast to last season, when Virginia started out 0-3 in conference play. With three conference games left to play, the team is looking for its first-ever undefeated ACC season.
Before looking ahead, however, Swanson warned against overconfidence and used last year's early-season struggles as an example.
"Last year is a good lesson for us," Swanson noted. "Just because we're 3-0-1 right now doesn't mean squat. You've got the whole ACC schedule to play. We've put ourselves in a good position thus far."
Duke, a perennial national championship contender, has not played as well as in past years, but still has a record of 9-4-1, 2-2 in the ACC. The team's scoring is paced by Blue Devil sophomore forward Carolyn Riggs and freshman midfielder Lauren Tippets. In back, senior goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir, also an Icelandic national team starter, anchors a defense that has allowed only 17 goals in 14 games.
Duke is coming off a 3-1 victory Wednesday against N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C. Riggs tallied the game-winning goal, her team-leading seventh on the season. Helgadottir played 75 scoreless minutes in goal before leaving the game late in the second half. Duke's ninth victory on the season matched last year's win total.
Hammond said Virginia is not about to overlook the Blue Devils.
"We still have three huge games coming up," Hammond said. "Duke, UNC and Clemson are all really good teams, so we need to keep focused."
Swanson also said the team will be ready to play on Saturday in Durham.
"We have some big games coming up and we're going to focus veryhard on Duke," Swanson said. "That's not going to be an easy game down there away from home."
The Cavalier team will put its No. 6 ranking on the line in the upcoming weeks with the conclusion of the regular season, the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament. This journey begins on tomorrow against Duke.
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