With 19 returning members and one of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in the country, the Virginia men's soccer team is poised to build upon last fall's successes.
In 2006, Virginia posted a 14-1-0 home record while finishing 17-4-1 on the season. When 5,850 fans attended the NCAA quarterfinals against Notre Dame at Klöckner Stadium, the Cavaliers not only set an NCAA record for attendance, but also gave the men's soccer program its first College Cup berth since 1997.
Although UCLA ended Virginia's quest for the National Championship in the semi-finals, the Cavaliers nevertheless had one of their best seasons in nearly a decade.With so many veteran players, coach George Gelnovatch has the opportunity to harness last year's intensity and momentum as the Cavaliers prepare for their season opener against Columbia.
"We are pretty fortunate that we have what will comprise the nucleus of our team returning from the spring," Gelnovatch said. "So to start with, we aren't going to be depending too much on a lot of our first-years because there is a learning curve. They are a very talented class -- one of the top classes in the country, but there is still always a learning curve."
In its preseason poll, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America ranked Virginia fifth nationally.Rounding out the top five are No. 1 UC Santa Barbara, No. 2 UCLA and ACC opponents Wake Forest and Duke, at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively.
Since the beginning of August, Gelnovatch has been alternating between one- and two-a-day practices, which have consisted of intense training sessions and a considerable amount of running.
"In our sport, we don't get much time in the preseason unlike some spring sports that have an entire semester to get themselves ready," Gelnovatch said. "We basically have 2 1/2 weeks of pre-season, so part of it is fitness and the other part is incorporating our first-years pretty quickly, more so than most teams because of the time that we start."
Although the season opener isn't until Friday, the Cavaliers had a chance to take the field during the weekend, taking on South Florida Sunday morning after the Saturday night exhibition match was postponed because of lightning.Having already cancelled a preseason game against VCU because of inclement weather, Gelnovatch said he was determined to hold the match against the Bulls.
Virginia saw the fruits of its preseason training when in the 21st minute of the contest, senior midfielder Jeremy Barlow scored the game's lone goal to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 victory against the Bulls.
"I think we are looking very promising," senior co-captain Matt Williams said."And I think everyone is very eager to start the season"
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