Halfway through the season is a good reflection point for a team, a time to look around, see how far the team has come since the beginning, and, if necessary, see how far a team has to go. Unfortunately, if where the team is going tends to fall under the category "far away," and the reason behind this is "to play ACC teams," reflection time may not be an option.
The No. 11 Virginia women's soccer team began ACC play last night against No. 15 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Virginia's next 10 regular season games are all against ACC opponents, with five coming away from Klöckner Stadium.
Road games, while seemingly intimidating, do not appear to faze this year's Cavaliers.
"[Being away] is going to be tough, but I know we can handle it," junior defender Becky Sauerbrunn said. "It's really just a mental aspect of the game, and we can overcome that."
In the last 11 seasons, Virginia has opened conference play on the road 10 times. Its overall record with openers on the road in the last decade stands at 7-2.
While no one's denying that it's nicer to play at home, away games are not going to be the central issue facing Virginia for the rest of the season -- playing conference teams will.
So far, the only real test Virginia has had this season was against No. 3 Penn State in which Virginia traveled to University Park, Pa. only to come away with a 5-2 loss. The following weekend, Virginia lost at home to Tennessee in the last 11 seconds of the game and then tied Dayton to put its overall record at 3-2-1.
That was two weekends ago though. Last weekend, Virginia annihilated both St. Bonaventure and Richmond. The combined seven goals against the Bonnies and nine goals against the Spiders marked the most Virginia has ever scored in consecutive games.
The thing that really could give the Cavaliers confidence, though, is that it was not just the teams Virginia has played, or Virginia's home field advantage, that contributed to the win. The Cavaliers were genuinely playing some of the best soccer they have played all year. Of 23 shots taken Friday, 20 were on goal.
"I told the team that's critical." Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "I think when you get quality chances you want to put them on frame because good things can happen."
Although the road ahead is certainly looking long and tough, it's looking a little more maneuverable after last weekend. With those wins, Virginia was finally able to use its depth to its full advantage and finish the chances that came its way, which has given some of the team confidence looking forward to the ACC.
"We're coming onto that week with two straight wins this week, so I think we'll do good if we just go out there and play like we did [Sunday]." freshman Jess Rostedt said.
If they maintain their confidence and play to their full potential, five road games and 10 conference teams might not prove to be such a tough threat for the Cavaliers after all.
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