The No. 6 Virginia women's soccer team heads to Morgantown, W.Va., Sunday to seek its first undefeated non-conference record since 2004.
With the squad's opening ACC match against Virginia Tech coming up next Thursday, the Cavaliers view their matchup against West Virginia as an important final step before they begin the grind of conference play.
"We're trying to take West Virginia as a win then go into ACCs undefeated and just confident," senior midfielder Sinead Farrelly said.
The Mountaineers, though, are coming off some strong results, even if they are currently unranked in the polls. They experienced, for example, a one-goal loss during overtime to Penn State - a team that played Virginia to a 1-1 tie Aug. 27 - and a 4-0 win against Florida Atlantic. And during its last match against Virginia, West Virginia ended up dominating, posting a 3-0 win in 2008.
But the Cavaliers are coming in on a high note, having dominated the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic, where they beat Texas and Boston University by a combined margin of 7-0. By no means, however, is the team playing perfect soccer.
"I'd like to see us start a little bit better," coach Steve Swanson said. "I think we need to be able to break down teams a little bit better. I think we're gonna need that once we start ACC play."
Virginia's slow starts are well-documented. The Cavaliers have scored eight goals on 66 shots during the first halves of games, compared to 18 goals on 77 shots during the second half. The coaches attribute their team's impressive second-half rallies largely to the quality found throughout the entire roster.
"I think we have a lot of strong players throughout our team, and I think that depth is probably that thing that shows the most over the course of the non-conference schedule," Swanson said. "And I think at the end of the day, we'll need that down the line."
The Cavaliers boast the second-best scoring offense and goals-against average rankings, and is tied for the No. 3 shutout percentage in the country. On the offensive side of the field, much of that prowess is thanks to the contributions of both Farrelly and senior forward Meghan Lenczyk.
Farrelly, who was named ACC Player of the Week after her three-goal performance last weekend, has six goals this season on just 10 shots on goal. Lencyzk - who totaled only one assist in last weekend's games - has seven goals on the season, already tying her total from last year. The impressive offensive output has the team in high spirits.
"If we keep scoring, then I think teams are going to be scared of us no matter what," Farrelly said.
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