With the midseason tide of its conference schedule cresting, the Virginia men’s soccer team has shored up against the waves of early season losses and close wins. Virginia is on a tear, having won six games in a row, including five shutouts.
The once-forgotten Cavaliers (8-3, 4-0 ACC) have risen to No. 14 in the national rankings. After once holding a losing record, Virginia has turned things around in a way few could have expected.
“We’ve been building momentum all season, and it’s all starting to come together now,” sophomore forward Chase Neinken said. “We continue to get better, and we’ve been playing really well in the conference.”
Virginia lost three of its first five games to start the season, including a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Virginia Commonwealth University. Although VCU is an up-and-coming team, and Virginia played the Rams on the road, the loss was nevertheless surprising and seemed to spell disaster for the rest of the season.
Virginia’s early losses, however, have had the opposite effect. The early adversity Virginia faced united the team as a cohesive whole.
“This is a young team that is really starting to come together,” senior defender Matt Poole said. “After the first few games they [the freshmen] were still getting to know each other. Now that we have played many games together, we are playing well as a team.”
Virginia’s team cohesion was especially prevalent last Friday. In a tough, grind-it-out game typical of the ACC, Virginia came up with a late goal and pulled out a 1-0 win against visiting Clemson. Neinken scored the game-winner for Virginia in the 88th minute — on a Virginia corner, freshman midfielder Tony Tchani redirected the ball from the backside to the top of the 6-yard box, and Neinken emerged from a scuffle and found the lower corner for his first goal of the season.
Neinken’s game-winning score illustrated what has been the biggest factor in Virginia’s six-game winning streak: efficiency. Early in the season, Virginia struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities, and the Cavaliers often suffered defeat despite out-shooting opponents. Recently, however, the young Cavaliers have made the most of their opportunities and have turned things around offensively. Virginia’s offensive efficiency has paid dividends during difficult ACC contests, as the Cavaliers remain undefeated in conference play.
“It hasn’t been so much of a turnaround,” Neinken said. “We’ve just been putting the ball in the back of the net. We’re playing well and moving the ball around nicely.”
Thanks to Virginia’s recent success, a surplus of positive energy exists in the Virginia locker room. The success of both the offensive and defensive units has created an environment in which every player is confident about the team’s ability and potential. With four more tough ACC contests remaining, however, Virginia’s confidence level will need to remain high in order to knock off conference heavyweights Wake Forest, Maryland, Duke and Boston College.
Fortunately for Virginia, the Cavaliers couldn’t feel better about themselves than they do now.
“We’re undefeated in the ACC, and we’ve won six in a row,” Poole said. “Everyone is feeling great.”
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