The No. 3 Virginia men's soccer team opens their season this weekend in the 2006 Virginia Soccer Classic at Klöckner Stadium. They will face off against the Davidson Wildcats tonight and the No. 21 UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos on Sunday, with both games at 7:30. Klöckner Stadium has proven to give the Cavaliers a significant home-field advantage -- last year they went 8-1-1 at home, improving their home winning percentage to almost 83.
The biggest question going into this weekend, however, will be the status of co-captain forward Yannick Reyering. The sophomore rolled his ankle while running in practice following his one-goal performance against Georgetown and sat out the next exhibition game with a boot on his right leg. But Virginia coach George Gelnovatch seems confident that Reyering will be on the field tonight.
"It rolled a little bit so we're just taking precautions," Gelnovatch said. "I hope to see him out there practicing."
If Reyering cannot go, look for other players to step up in his place. Nico Colaluca was the man of the match against VCU last Saturday. Colaluca had sat out the first exhibition against Georgetown, but with Reyering's absence, the junior midfielder had an opportunity to take control of the game and he did. Colaluca was able to find some open space to make plays, and capitalized on a free kick that bended into the goal, inches away from the keeper's outstretched arms.
Reyering's fellow forward, senior Adam Cristman, will look to make a statement early on this season as well. Cristman has scored a combined three goals in Virginia's past two season-opening matches, and will look to add to that mark tonight.
Both the Wildcats and the Gauchos had very strong seasons last year. The Gauchos recorded a 13-5-3 record before losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Cal-State Northridge 3-2. The Wildcats were 14-5-2 and an even more impressive 9-0-1 in conference. Davidson, however, has had trouble competing against the teams in the ACC. Last year, they lost their three matches against ACC foes by a combined score of 13-1.
Winning the Virginia Soccer Classic will not be an easy task, though. The Cavaliers have not won the event since 2002 and have won it only twice in seven appearances.
"Any team wants to get off to a good start and the Virginia Soccer Classic is the perfect place to do it," senior goalie Ryan Burke said. "It's a great crowd and a great venue."
Virginia has already played two exhibition matches -- a 2-0 victory over Georgetown and a strong victory over VCU 3-0. While there is still room for improvement, most of the critiques have been positive.
"We've played alright, both performances were solid," Burke said. We're definitely not where we want to be but to be honest we don't want to be at the top of our game right now -- we want to peak in November."
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