Virginia faces a stern task tonight against No. 3 ranked UCLA.
The No. 5 Virginia's women soccer team has stormed out of the gate to its best start since 1990, 4-0-0, but the Cavaliers will entertain their toughest foe to date with the No. 3 ranked Bruins (3-0-0) in town. The Bruins and Cavaliers will meet as part of the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic, which also features South Carolina and ACC rival Maryland.
Through their first four games, the Cavaliers have been led by a stingy defense, with sophomore goalkeeper Christina de Vries posting four consecutive shutouts. De Vries was supposed to enter the preseason in a heated competition with freshman Laura Comeau, but Comeau is spending the fall playing for the U-19 National Team. Following Comeau's departure, de Vries became the starter and has played spectacularly ever since. In the Cavaliers' 1-0 victory over No. 21 West Virginia on Sunday, de Vries recorded three saves and continued her shutout streak.
Though de Vries's play has caught the eyes of teammates and opponents alike, the efforts of Virginia's back four has not gone unnoticed. This week senior defender Jaime Fabrizio was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week as she anchored the defense in two shutout victories. Securing those shutouts along with Fabrizio have been fellow seniors Gillian Hatch, Katie Bunch and Jessica Trainor. With four seniors on the back line, Virginia coach Steve Swanson said he feels confident about his team's defense.
"Our defense has done well early on," Swanson said. "I have four fourth years back there, which is nice from our perspective."
Though the Cavalier defense has yet to sacrifice a goal, the Bruins should threaten them tonight. UCLA scored six goals in its last game against UC Santa Barbara and four goals against San Diego. The Bruins are led by freshman forward Danesha Adams (five goals) and sophomore Bristyn Davis (four goals).
If the Bruins can find the back of the net, the Cavaliers have plenty of firepower to enter an offensive shootout. Heading into today's game the Cavaliers have scored 14 goals in only four contests. However, against a team as highly ranked as the Bruins, the Cavaliers must improve on their finishing in order to beat UCLA goalie Valerie Henderson.
"I think we are going to have to finish our chances," Fabrizio said. "Our ball movement needs to be faster and I think our defense just needs to stay strong."
In order to create scoring chances the Cavaliers must deal with Bruin defender Jill Oakes, a preseason All-American. Oakes controls a Bruin defense that has only allowed two goals this season. The Bruins' defense should focus on stopping Cavalier forwards Kristen Weiss and Lindsay Gusick. Weiss has recorded goals in each of the last two contests and Gusick scored twice in a recent game against Liberty.
While the Cavaliers have played solidly their first four games, Swanson points out that his team has yet to maximize their collective talents.
"I don't think we are anywhere where we want to be," Swanson said.
The Cavaliers can move closer to matching Swanson's expectations with a win over the Bruins today and another victory in their second game of the Kickoff Classic on Sunday against South Carolina. Two victories would also keep the Cavaliers in line to catch their sisters of the past, the 1990 squad who started the season with 16 straight victories.
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