If a wise man had come down from a mountain onto the soccer field and said to the women's soccer team, "Beware the corner kick," then maybe Virginia would have been prepared. If the same wise man had said, "Beware feeling secure -- especially in the last second of a game or against a team you think you can beat," that would have been even better. If the wise man had said, "Beware also refs who will make questionable calls throughout the game," well, there's probably not much anyone could have done about that. The corner kick warning, though, that would have helped.
It wasn't really a problem anyone could have anticipated before it happened. Virginia hasn't especially had a problem with corner kicks before, but this weekend when the Cavs shot, they couldn't get them in, and when the opponents shot, they couldn't keep them out. The problem started Friday night, when, after your typical first half of Virginia-controls and-all-but-scores, the Tennessee Volunteers got on the offensive and capitalized on a corner kick to score with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
The loss, combined with the previous Sunday's loss to Penn State marked the first time Virginia has lost consecutive games since 2003 and the first time it has lost at home against a non-conference team since 2002.
Then, because Friday didn't offer enough suspense, there was the nail-biter Sunday. After taking a very rare early lead, Virginia lost it on a corner kick that harkened back to Friday entirely too much. Christina De Vries went to one corner of the goal only to have the ball tossed around by Tennessee to finally land smack dab in the other corner. To top it all off, the Dayton Flyers then came in with another goal to take the lead. Though Virginia saw corner kicks aplenty come their way, it was never able to capitalize on the opportunity, highlighting again what has been Virginia's main problem this year -- not being able to finish opportunities while the other team manages just fine.
If Dayton had had its own wise man on the mountain, though, he might have said, "Beware Virginia's penchant for scoring at the very last second." I call it making sure the fans are awake.
With about a minute and a half left against Dayton, Virginia managed to find the net for the second time.
The game then went into overtime, something the wise man would have warned against, given that that's when Virginia choked in the past. But, after a Cavalier goal was taken back because of an off-sides ruling, nothing much happened, and the game remained tied.
We're going to look at the positives though. Positive one is Noelle Keselica, who scored both goals Sunday and was a powerhouse on the field, something Virginia desperately needs in its still failing-to-finish offense. Positive number two is that in the last 10 minutes of double overtime, the Cavaliers probably played their best yet this season. This is a twofold positive. It's good because it's great to see the team coming together, but also because, historically, the Cavaliers have choked in overtime, and this time they definitely did not -- hopefully signaling a future trend. Positive number three is that if karma does exist, in his next life the referee, who made several questionable foul calls -- she was kicking at the ball, not the girl, the ball moved, that is not a foul -- will become a sports player who will never have a call made in his favor for his entire (next) life.
And now for the final positive: at least no one attending a game ever can walk away complaining of being bored.
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