In its second ACC contest, No. 20 Virginia men's soccer faces No. 2 Wake Forest tonight in Winston-Salem, N.C. .
"I like [our chances against Wake Forrest]," senior midfielder Neil Barlow said. "If we play like we did against Duke and just finish our chances, that's what it's going to come down to. We're getting our chances. We just need to start putting them away."
Barlow scored the lone goal in the 38th minute leading to a 1-0 victory against Mount St. Mary's at home Tuesday night. Despite the victory, Virginia's efficiency was lackluster. The Cavaliers (3-1, 0-1 ACC) out-shot the Mount 18-2 and held a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks but only found the back of the net once.
"We wanted to win and we wanted to rest a lot of people, and we accomplished that," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "I would have liked to have scored more goals and won more convincingly, but in the end we achieved our goals."
Wake Forest (2-0-1, 1-0 ACC) will look to extend its unbeaten home streak to 36 games. The Deacons opened conference play against Clemson last Sunday, earning their first ACC win of the year.
Freshman forward Sean Randolph and senior midfielder Austin da Luz are tied for the team lead in points with four each. Randolph has scored a team-leading two goals, while da Luz leads the team with four assists.
Wake Forrest's versatility may prove problematic even for a Virginia defense that has allowed only three goals this season.
Offensively, Virginia needs to not only attack the net more efficiently but also play tactically. Senior goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald has played every minute in goal for Wake Forest this season and brings a 0.71 goals against average into the game, allowing three goals and making 21 saves in 380 minutes of action.
"You're always happy to come out and get a win here at home, but we were looking for a better result," senior forward Chase Neinken said. "We've had some trouble scoring goals so far this year, and we're just ready to hopefully get that ball rolling [against Wake Forrest]."
Barlow and sophomore midfielder Tony Tchani, each of whom have two goals on the season, lead the Cavaliers. Barlow has also added an assist to give him the team lead in points with five.
Defensively, redshirt junior Diego Restrepo has played 335:28 in goal for the Cavaliers, allowing two goals and making four saves. Restrepo has one shutout on the season and carries a 0.54 goals against average.
"This game that we have coming up is a huge game for us," Barlow said. "We definitely don't want to go down 0-2 in the ACC. That would not be a good start."
The last time the two teams battled the result was a 3-2 double-overtime Virginia victory during the 2008 ACC tournament semifinals, sending the Cavaliers to the championship. Virginia leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 31-6-5.
Following Friday's match, Virginia returns for homes matches against George Washington, Clemson and VCU before heading to its next away game against North Carolina.
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