In youth soccer, playing keep away was one of the most fun and most frustrating drills I can remember. If you had possession of the ball you were, at least in comparison to your opponents, having a blast. If you did not have the ball, however, that meant you were the unfortunate soul running around chasing it like a chicken with its head cut off. Last night, Virginia definitely made Old Dominion University the chicken.
Throughout the game, and especially for the first half, the Cavaliers knocked the ball around as if it were halftime warm-ups. They looked more than confident under pressure, they were almost serene.
"That's the way we like to play," senior defender Matt Oliver said. "We just like to knock the ball around."
A team's ability to string multiple passes together and keep position of the ball says a lot about them.
First of all, it shows patience and maturity. In order to apply the perfect amount of pressure to your pass you have to avoid jumping the gun and handing it off too early and you have to be able to keep your composure as players run at you. This is something we've seen time after time from some players -- like Virginia's backbone Oliver -- but last night all the Cavaliers had it down, and it was beautiful.
The other thing keep away shows is trust in each other, communication and a lack of selfishness. This year's Cavaliers talk to each other and know that when they play a good ball, someone will be there. Also, they aren't about individual glory. Yesterday they knocked the ball around perilously close to ODU's goal and no one took a shot until they had a good one. They were more than willing to pass it off to a better-positioned opponent.
Lastly, the ability to keep possession shows practice and skill. They have their first touches down pat and they have an intuition when it comes to field positioning and the best place to put a pass.
Probably more importantly than what this ability shows is what it produces. Last night's game was a perfect example of the benefits you reap when you can keep the ball. For the Cavaliers, it meant a match where they controlled the pace and position. They were playing on their terms, and it paid off.
Old Dominion, a top-25 team who beat the Cavaliers last year, looked two steps behind and hardly ever first to the ball. Their growing frustration was tangible and manifested itself through fouls and unnecessary out-of-bounds kicks. And unfortunately for the Monarchs, both those errors led to the same thing -- Hunter Freeman restarts.
Putting the ball at the feet of Freeman is like playing Russian Roulette. The defender has had 19 assists this season; even in desperation Cavalier opponents should know what a risk they're taking giving him the ball.
This nearly-flawless possession gave Virginia an easy 3-0 leading going into halftime. They were able to maintain their composure throughout the second half despite ODU's growing desperation and the number of players that came off the Virginia bench.
Even more than the win, the Cavaliers' ability to keep possession proves most decisively that Virginia is where they should be, near the top of the rankings finishing out the regular season.
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