Though it may be entering tonight's ACC semifinal match against No. 6 Florida State as the conference tournament's defending champion, the Virginia women's soccer team is not about to take anything for granted.
After staving off Wake Forest 2-1 Wednesday night, the No. 7 Cavaliers are now just one victory away from advancing to the ACC championship game for the second consecutive year. With all four remaining schools ranked among the nation's top 10, however, Virginia still has plenty left to prove.
"It's a bit weird being the defending champions this year," senior midfielder Sarah Huffman said. "I think people still see us as one of the underdogs in the conference."
With a potential championship rematch against the Tournament's prohibitive favorite, North Carolina, looming on Sunday, the Cavaliers are making sure not to look past tonight's meeting with a surprisingly strong Seminoles squad.
"Our team has done a great job of just concentrating on the game that's right ahead of them," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "We have a great deal of respect for each opponent in this conference because if you don't, you're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble."
Though not considered a perennial power in women's soccer, Florida State has enjoyed a very successful 2005 campaign with a final regular season mark of 16-2-0. The team's only two losses on the year came against North Carolina and Virginia.
After being ousted in the first round of last year's ACC Tournament by Clemson, the Seminoles returned the favor twice in the last week by routing the No. 24 Tigers 3-0 in South Carolina Saturday and then again Wednesday in the quarterfinals by a score of 4-0. The two victories extended the Seminoles' winning streak to eight with the team's last defeat coming in Charlottesville Sept. 29.
While the Cavaliers were able to eke out a 1-0 win in the schools' only regular season meeting, they expect an even greater challenge in this evening's more important rematch. To their credit, however, the Cavaliers have been phenomenal in close games with a record of 8-3-1 in matches decided by one goal or less.
One of the main reasons behind this sudden maturity under pressure is the leadership and experience of senior midfielders Sarah Huffman, Noelle Keselica and Kelly Hammond. Both Huffman and Keselica were named to the All-ACC First Team last week, while Hammond is among the team leaders in scoring and assists, despite missing nearly half the season due to a knee injury. Together, the tightly-knit trio hopes to continue its legacy of success with one last postseason to remember.
"You see pictures up on the wall of last year's team, and that's nice," Swanson said. "But that was a completely different team. This is a group that is trying to create their own identity, and they've only got one shot to do that. They'll never be together again."
Kickoff for tonight's semifinal match against Florida State is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
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