The Virginia men’s soccer team went into Pittsburgh after winning two straight games against ranked opponents. Against a less stellar opponent Friday, Virginia revealed a clear gap in quality, conquering the winless Panthers 5-0 in their first ever ACC meeting.
Tuesday’s contest promises to be a return to highly competitive play as Virginia travels to Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C., facing another ACC opponent, Duke (4-4-3, 0-3-2 ACC). The Blue Devils come off of a gritty 0-0 tie away at No. 12 North Carolina, remaining winless in ACC play — a fact that Virginia coach George Gelnovatch played down.
“Any in-conference game is always just a war,” Gelnovatch said. “They’re going to be playing with a lot of emotion and a lot of fight in them, we’ve just got to be ready.”
In contrast to the first six games of the season, in which the Cavaliers offense eked out only seven goals, output has since more than doubled to 19 goals in the past half dozen matchups. With this offensive burst has come a much improved record — the team is undefeated in six games and is seeking its fifth consecutive win.
“We’re starting to get in the flow of things,” freshman forward Riggs Lennon said. “Our defense is holding teams. We’re getting shutouts; we’re getting goals. So, we’re meshing pretty well.”
Gelnovatch is happy with the team’s overall play, but zeroed in on a more specific area of progress.
“The biggest thing for me has just been a mentality change in our individual defending,” Gelnovatch said. “The mentality to keep a clean sheet, the mentality to defend — individual defending, restarts, all that stuff — that piece, to me, has brought us together. Doing that well has improved us the most in the last two weeks.”
Lennon has been a standout in Virginia’s recent run of stellar play, averaging one goal per game in the Cavaliers’ last four matchups. He has silenced any doubts about his relatively quiet first half to the season, particularly for Gelnovatch.
“Coming out of high school and U.S. academy soccer, he’s a proven goal-scorer,” Gelnovatch said. “Sometimes you wonder how long it takes that goal-scoring kind of [player] to come through. He’s on track for eight or 10 goals for the year, which would be very good for a first-year.”
A win at Duke has the potential to push the Cavaliers toward a return to the top 25, having received 15 votes in the most recent Coaches Poll. Virginia returns home to Klöckner Stadium this Friday for its final ACC tilt with Maryland before the Terrapins join the Big Ten next season.
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