The Virginia men's soccer team officially began its season with a 3-0 victory over Marshall, but if you ask the Cavalier players and coaches, the real season begins tonight with a trip to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face the Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest.
The game, which is set to start at 7 p.m. at Wake Forest's Spry Soccer Stadium, will be the first ACC game for the Cavaliers. The 20th-ranked Cavaliers are coming off of their first loss of the season after being defeated by the then-No. 8 ranked St. Louis Billikens, a game in which Virginia surrendered its first goal of the season. Wake Forest, which is ranked No. 2 in the most recent Soccer America rankings, brings an undefeated record of 3-0-1 into the matchup. Tonight's game marks the fourth game the two teams have played in less than 13 months.
Virginia has defeated Wake Forest in all four of those matchups, including three times last year alone. In each of those three contests, Virginia came into the game as a sizeable underdog, yet managed to come out with a victory. In the first of last year's three games, the Cavaliers shocked the No. 2 ranked Demon Deacons. Virginia's other two victories came in tournament play, one a victory in the semifinals of the ACC tournament and the other in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The situation coming into tonight's game remains the same, as Virginia will once again be the underdog to a Wake team which plays very well at home. The Demon Deacons only lost one game at home last season and it was at the hands of Virginia in the NCAA tournament.
The Cavaliers are not nearly as desperate for a win as they were last year before the first matchup, when Virginia entered the game with a 1-3 record.
"Last year we definitely needed a win" senior defenseman Matt Oliver said. "But this year we are 3-1 and I think its more urgency than desperation."
Virginia started this year strong, winning their first three games of the season, but the team struggled defensively against St. Louis contributing to the Cavaliers' first loss of the season.
"We were a little out of shape," sophomore forward Adam Cristman said. "We weren't tight as a unit with our back line and overall our defending shape and posture needs improvement."
In order for the Cavaliers to ensure a fifth consecutive victory over Wake, Virginia's defense will likely have to regain the form it had during the first three games of the season when they recorded three consecutive shutouts. Shutting down the Wake attack won't likely be an easy task for the Cavaliers. Wake has averaged two goals per game in their four games and will have the added incentive of trying to avenge their three losses to Virginia last year. The Cavaliers realize the game against Wake will be extremely competitive.
"Every game is a dog fight, they know us very well and we know them very well" Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "It's an ACC game -- they are going to be as juiced up, probably more so than they ever have, because the last time we played them we beat them."
As far as ACC openers go, the Cavaliers couldn't be faced with a much tougher opponent. Virginia will likely have to be at its best if they want to defeat the Demon Deacons yet again and start the ACC season with a bang.
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