With two no-decision ACC games under its belt, the Virginia men's soccer team is hungry to tally one in the conference win column at the expense of North Carolina.
"I always feel confident going in because of the talent this team has," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "Our theme this week is to get the win, get those three points."
Indeed, while Boston College leads the ACC with nine points, Virginia (6-1-2, 0-0-2 ACC) has just two and ranks sixth in the conference, one spot behind North Carolina (3-2-4, 1-1-0 ACC). In the national standings, however, the Cavaliers are fifth, while the Tar Heels are not among the top 25.
"UNC is a talented team; their record may not reflect that, but they are," Gelnovatch said. "This year in the ACC it's not that the top five teams are really any better than in years past, but the rest of the conference has improved, making it as competitive as ever."
North Carolina arrives in Charlottesville Saturday on the heels of its best offensive showing since 2002, a 7-1 victory against Liberty. In the contest, seven Tar Heels found the back of the net to post the second-highest goal count of any ACC team so far this season.
With four in the back, five in the midfield and one up top, North Carolina will aim to defeat Virginia by maintaining possession and controlling the pace of the game. For their part, the Cavaliers will look to take an early lead on the Tar Heels, something they failed to do against either of their previous ACC opponents.
"UNC has a great program -- they have for as long as I can remember," senior Zola Short said. "They are going to fight just as hard and I don't think they are going to be as intimidated by Klöckner as some of these other teams."
In the all-time series, North Carolina leads by one game 33-32-7. Since 2005, the teams have squared off three times with the Tar Heels defeating a higher-ranked Cavalier team twice. At Chapel Hill last season, North Carolina handed Virginia its first loss of 2006 and snapped an eight-game winning streak.
Indeed, the Cavaliers have struggled against North Carolina on the road and welcome the opportunity to play at home this weekend.
"This is huge -- we really need to get this victory," junior Matt Poole said. "Hopefully keep a shutout, and hopefully we will have another big crowd -- it would be great to play in front of a lot of fans."
Virginia certainly had that opportunity last Friday as 7,906 fans came out to watch Virginia battle in-state rival Virginia Tech. The crowd broke the Klöckner Stadium attendance record which had stood since 1994 when 7,807 fans attended an NCAA Tournament game against James Madison University. Although the Virginia Tech game ended in a 1-1 draw, it was nevertheless a competitive, crowd-pleasing, double-overtime match.
"There's nothing I can do to motivate these guys that can compete with 5,6,7, 8,000 fans," Gelnovatch said. "The Virginia Tech game was exciting to watch -- hopefully it will encourage people to come out for UNC."
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