Sunday's disappointing loss against Penn State was a tale of two halves. A solid first half in which the Cavaliers outshot the Nittany Lions 5-2 gave Virginia a 1-0 edge, but the Cavaliers surrendered three goals and were outshot 8-4 in the second half. In the team's first regional match tonight against Richmond, the top priority will be to maintain a high level of play from the opening faceoff to the final whistle.
"What's more important [than winning against Richmond] is our performance, that we grow, that we can put two halves together this time and not just one," Virginia head coach Michele Madison said. "We got 35 minutes of pretty solid hockey, but you have to put two halves together, and that's the goal."
Virginia (0-1, 0-0 ACC) will attempt to achieve this goal against a solid opponent in Richmond (1-1). The Spiders are coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 16 American following a 3-2 victory in their opening match against Hofstra. Ranked No. 23 preseason, Richmond has won the Atlantic 10 championship and appeared in the NCAA Tournament each of the last five years.
The Spiders, however, return a very young squad in 2007; 16 of the 20 players on the roster are freshmen and sophomores. Starring so far have been sophomore Sarah Blythe-Wood and freshman Sara Reese, who have scored all of the Spiders' three goals this season. Both players received honors last week within the conference -- Reese with conference Rookie of the Week and Blythe-Wood with Co-Player of the Week.
Although Virginia has the edge in experience in tonight's match, the team will have to see significant contributions from its youth tonight and for the duration of the season. All freshmen had playing time against Penn State, including three starters in the field and goalkeeper Devon Burnley, who played the entire second half. Madison said the rotation will be similar for the duration of the season, although it will be a developing process.
"Some people grow more into the game, and some people start contributing in certain situations," Madison said. "Every day we see a little bit more."
The concept of growth is a recurring theme on a team that continues to improve in Madison's second year as head coach. While the players are certainly not satisfied with their performance last Sunday, they recognize there will be plenty of time to hit their stride as the long season progresses.
"We've got a lot of work to do," Madison said. "You can't fix everything in two weeks."
In addition to the challenge of a formidable opponent, and the desire to rebound off of Sunday's loss, the Cavaliers have additional motivation in playing against their first Big South opponent. The team places similar importance on regional games as on conference games, so Virginia has all the inspiration it needs to perform.
"The regional games are really important ... against Richmond, Radford, Longwood and Old Dominion," ?junior Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn said. "The regional and conference games are the most important."
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