Coming off of an 8-0 romp over Virginia Tech on Wednesday in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, the Virginia women's soccer team will look to solidify its status as one of the country's elite squads this weekend.
No. 4 Virginia (15-2-1) will face No. 22 Clemson (10-6-2) in the semifinals this evening, with a date in the tournament final on the line. The winner will play the victor between No. 1 North Carolina and No. 20 Duke at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Virginia has not made an ACC tournament final under coach Steve Swanson, winning only one match in the tournament in his four years at the helm. The team's sights have been set higher than winning a single tournament game all season, however.
"It's been a long-term goal for us to make it to the ACC finals," midfielder Sarah Huffman said. "All year, it has seemed so far away. Now that it is here, we are all excited and feeling confident. Now we are just taking it one game at a time and building off of this game."
Virginia has already defeated Clemson this season, outplaying the Tigers in a physical 2-0 home win last month. Noelle Keselica and Lindsay Gusick tallied goals for the Cavaliers, who out-shot Clemson 16-6 and controlled possession throughout the match. Virginia's victory was the first over the Tigers in the past eight meetings in the series.
To advance to the semifinals, Clemson defeated No. 19 Florida State 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 regulation tie. The Tigers jumped out in front 15 minutes into the game with two goals inside of a minute. A resilient Seminole squad cut the deficit five minutes into the second half and tied the game 10 minutes from time.
After two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods, the game went to penalty kicks. Clemson went first and converted its first four shots, but a miss by midfielder Courtney Foster gave the Seminoles a chance to force sudden death. However, FSU's Camie Bybee was stopped by Clemson goalkeeper Lauren Johnston, propelling the Tigers into the next round.
Despite Clemson's narrow quarterfinal escape and prior loss to the Cavaliers, Swanson is not looking past the Tigers.
"In this conference, you can expect a tough game whoever you play," Swanson said. "I've never felt going into an ACC game that it would be an easy game. That mentality has proven over and over again that it doesn't work."
If the Cavaliers get by the Tigers, Virginia will face either of a pair of North Carolina schools who have an inherent home-field advantage with the tournament being held in Cary, N.C.
Duke (13-6) would be the less likely opponent, despite the talents of ACC Offensive Player of the Year Casey McCluskey. McCluskey tallied her conference-leading 16th goal on the season to lead the Blue Devils to a 3-0 victory over No. 18 Wake Forest in the quarterfinals. She also had the lone tally in a 2-1 road defeat to Virginia earlier this season.
A Virginia win tonight would more likely result in a rematch with the top-ranked Tar Heels (17-0-1), who welcomed back 2003 National Player of the Year Lindsay Tarpley in a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Maryland in double overtime. Virginia suffered one of its two defeats on the season in Chapel Hill by a 2-1 margin.
The Cavaliers will look to reach the tournament final for the second time in school history tonight and then possibly to hand the Tar Heels their first loss in regulation in tournament history on Sunday.
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