Following their dramatic shutout of Maryland, Virginia hopes to garner another victory tonight when they take on Longwood at home under the lights tonight.
"We don't let this phase us too much," freshman midfielder Jonathan Villanueva said. "I think it will send a couple of buzzes across the country about how good we really are."
Virginia hopes to carry that momentum into tonight's match -- the Cavaliers' last non-conference regular season game as well as the last midweek regular season game.
In their previous midweek games, Virginia has struggled. In the match-up against American, the Cavaliers won scantily when sophomore forward Yannick Reyering headed in a cross 33 seconds into the second overtime. Additionally, prior to that in the game against St. Francis, junior midfielder Dane Murphy sunk a goal two minutes into overtime to protect Virginia's then-undefeated record.
The home field advantage will work strongly in favor of the Cavaliers when they face the Lancers. Virginia has a perfect record at home for the season so far, and the last time that the Cavaliers finished play with an undefeated record at home was in 2002. In their last home games, including the one against Maryland last Wednesday, Virginia has shown a strong trend toward improved defense and valiant efforts on offense.
Virginia coach George Gelnovatch will likely use his bench players increasingly during tonight's match against Longwood in order to give the players some much-needed game experience.
"It's good to see the young guys getting in," junior midfielder Chris Tierney said. "They can absolutely contribute to the game, as we have seen."
Additionally, coming into this match, senior goalie Ryan Burke is one shutout away from the school record with 26 shutouts. The school record of 27 career shutouts is held by Jeff Causey. Burke picked up his sixth shutout of the season last Wednesday night against Maryland.
Focus will also be on senior forward Adam Cristman. He has been steadily improving by adding more points to his total. Cristman scored his third goal of the season in the Cavaliers' previous match against Maryland. The senior goes into this game hoping to finish the last of his regular season at Klöckner on a strong note before graduation. Though Cristman does not receive as much publicity as players such as Reyering, he is a legitimate force and should contribute greatly to tonight's game.
"I can come out," Cristman said. "I can work really hard and play defense. Even if I'm not doing everything the best, I can at least set the tone and get my teammates to work hard, too."
Virginia plays host to the Lancers tonight at Klöckner Stadium at 7 p.m.
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