The Virginia women's soccer team is embarking on an important road trip this weekend. After traveling to Durham, N.C. yesterday, the Cavaliers will drive down the turnpike to Winston-Salem to face the No. 23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Sunday.
Wake Forest is sure to be a tough test for Virginia. The fact that the Demon Deacons are ranked just within the top 25 nationally assures that the match won't be an easy one for the Cavaliers. To make matters worse, Virginia will play Wake Forest on the road less than three days after its evening game at Duke, and two ACC road games in four days is an extremely tough test for any team.
"This is a competitive league," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "And if you don't show up to play, you're going to get beat, especially away from home."
Wake Forest (5-3-1) has posted impressive victories over then-No. 13 West Virginia, Pepperdine and Louisville. Wake Forest's victory over West Virginia was especially impressive because the win came on the road in Morgantown, W.Va. Senior defender Ashley Burney headed home the winning goal in the 87th minute to give the Demon Deacons the victory in the closing minutes of the game.
The Demon Decons "are always tough, especially at their place," Swanson said.
Wake Forest is led on offense by sophomore forward Jill Hutchinson, who leads the team in goals (5) and points (11). In fact, Hutchinson recently earned ACC Player of the Week honors for posting five points and leading her team to a perfect 2-0 record in the past seven days. On the defensive side of the field, Wake Forest has enjoyed stellar play in the goal from freshman goalkeeper Amanda Barasha. Barasha has only allowed three goals all season and is currently maintaining a 78.6 save percentage.
"We play Wake [Forest] two or three times almost every year, whether it's in the ACC Tournament or in the NCAA Tournament," Swanson said. "There have always been very good games and very close games [between us]. There is a rivalry in general that goes back a long way."
Virginia's Sunday afternoon matchup with Wake Forest will also be tough because the Demon Deacons will be looking for revenge. In last year's NCAA Tournament Virginia defeated Wake Forest 2-0 and eliminated the Demon Deacons from the competition. Wake Forest surely has not forgotten about last season's results and will likely be looking to exact some measure of revenge on the Cavaliers this weekend.
"Wake Forest is a big game," senior midfielder Julia Falk said. "We run across them a lot and beat them in the NCAA [Tournament], so they're going to want to get us back"
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