Good teams look to find a way to rebound after a tough loss and the Virginia men's soccer team is no different.
The Cavaliers will look to bounce back after their first conference loss of the season, a 2-1 defeat at the hands of North Carolina, when they take on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County tonight at Klöckner Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. and will match the 5-2-0 Cavaliers against the 4-1-1 Retrievers.
Tonight's non-conference game will give the Cavaliers an opportunity to work on restarts, an aspect of their game that let them down against North Carolina.
"We blew it on two plays" [Sunday], coach George Gelnovatch said. "The first goal was a restart and the second goal was a restart again. We made two big breakdowns on restarts"
Set-pieces such as corner kicks, throw-ins and free kicks can be vital to the outcome of a game. They allow a team to regroup and possibly switch the momentum of a game by scoring a goal or stopping an opponent's scoring chance. In addition, these restarts can quickly turn into a counterattack for the other team.
"Usually in those [nonconference] games, the opponents maybe [are] not as good as an ACC opponent," defender Hunter Freeman said. "But their goals are usually going to come off a counterattack."
Even though UMBC is not in the ACC, the team has experience playing on the road against ACC opponents. The Retrievers defeated NC State 2-1 earlier this year.
"You use every game as a way to fix things or make yourself better," Gelnovatch said. "This UMBC opponent is going to be a very good opponent."
In order to prepare for UMBC, Virginia has been watching film from past games, especially its most recent contest against North Carolina.
"First, I look at the film and take a good look at, in particular, the restarts," Gelnovatch said. "Also in the first half [against North Carolina] our central midfield wasn't very good. So we got to take a look at those things then address them with the team and it's a process to keep making things better."
After watching the film, Virginia's players said they weren't making any major mistakes, but instead committing a few, small lapses that cost them dearly.
"We're not playing bad it's just little things that we're doing we're getting punished for," Freeman said. "It's things we can correct easily and that's what we're going to try to do next game."
With tonight's game, Virginia begins a five game homestand that includes only one conference opponent. A defeat tonight and the Cavaliers will have their first losing streak of the season, but a win would prolong their current undefeated streak at home.
The Cavaliers hope the streak they continue is the latter.
Read More
Katie Grimes posts historic debut as women’s swimming and diving annihilates Virginia Tech
By Xander Tilock | 17 hours agoGrimes broke out as a new superstar for Coach Todd DeSorbo's squad.
Women’s basketball displays stingy defense, but falls short versus No. 14 Duke
By Xander Tilock | 22 hours agoThe Cavaliers nearly conquered a ranked rival but could not generate consistent offense.
You cannot say money is the problem for Virginia football
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayMoney, after all, is just one aspect of a winning program.
