For the Virginia men's soccer team, there are plenty of causes for concern: the team finished the preseason without a win, several players are battling nagging injuries, sophomore forward Chris Agorsor is still a question mark and nobody seems able to find the back of the net. Despite being outscored 6-1 in their past three contests, though, the Cavaliers' regular-season record remains unblemished - perhaps the only thing going in the team's favor.\n"We're still undefeated at this point," redshirt sophomore midfielder Jimmy Simpson said. "We're still 0-0 right now."\nWhile some may view the squad's rocky preseason display as a sign of forthcoming losses, Virginia players and coaches insist that their three exhibition losses, while disappointing, translated into a positive learning experience. The team's upsetting play and losses, members said, has provided them with a renewed focus, as well as extra motivation to prepare even harder for the upcoming regular season, which begins Sept. 4 against Portland.\nThe preseason "was definitely positive, no question," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "They've never worked so hard over the summer, they've never been so fit reporting to camp. We tried some guys in new positions with new concepts that we've never worked on ... we didn't get the results ... but I think we learned a lot about ourselves, and those new concepts probably weren't the best thing for our team."\nOn the injury front, the Cavaliers said they are better off than before. Sophomore forward Brian Ownby, who pulled his groin early in the preseason and sat out against West Virginia, is healthy once more and ready to re-enter the starting lineup this weekend. Simpson, who is fighting off a tweaked hamstring and recovering from knee surgery that took place a month ago, said though his knee swelled up after 25 minutes of play against West Virginia, he expects to play in the season opener. Sophomore midfielder Tony Tchani re-injured his knee also against West Virginia but hopes to be ready to play this weekend.\nThe biggest question mark after the West Virginia exhibition seemed to be senior captain Ross LaBauex, who went down after a collision late in the first half writhing in pain and needed assistance coming off the field. What looked like a potential season-ending injury, however, turned out to be only a bruised ankle.\n"I'll be all right," LaBauex said. "I'm just day-to-day, but it feels good, so I think I'll be ready to go by Friday."\nEven Agorsor, the former Gatorade National High School Soccer Player of the Year who tallied four goals last year before a season-ending injury, is poised to make a return to the lineup. After clearing up all his compliance issues with the NCAA, the Virginia coaching staff finally put him back into practice with the team Monday. While the team will work as hard as possible to get him back on the field, Gelnovatch said it could take time because he has missed two weeks of team practice.\nNo matter who is on the field, though, there still remains the issue of finishing scoring opportunities, something that has stood out as the team's Achilles heel in the preseason.\n"Just having guys like Brian and Jimmy back is some of the answer," Gelnovatch said. "And some of the answer is just doing a little bit more finishing [in practice]. It's something we have worked on and that we need to get better at."\nGoals or no goals, the team is ready to put the past behind them and meet the regular season head on.\n"The losses weren't good, but at the same time it really brought the team together," Simpson said. "It gave us a lot of motivation to come back. We've been working very hard in practice now, and taking it to the next level. We've actually changed up our formation a little bit and using the players we have better. It will be a lot better"
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