The Virginia men’s soccer team’s 2-1 loss against Wake Forest last Friday night — as with their four other losses this season — was heartbreaking on a number of levels.
The Cavaliers squandered several early goal-scoring opportunities only to see the Demon Deacons take the lead in the eighth minute. After pressing offensively through the entirety of the second half and eventually netting the equalizer in the 81st minute, all while a man down, Wake Forest regained the lead less than two minutes later to secure the win.
But rather than hang his head on the team’s second consecutive loss against a conference opponent, possibly forcing Virginia to compete in a play-in game for the ACC tournament, coach George Gelnovatch felt the loss could be a building block as the postseason nears.
“We played down a man and were better than Wake [Forest] in the second half,” Gelnovatch said.
So far, this positive energy — despite the negative stigma — has carried over into this week’s practices. In perhaps their most crucial stretch so far this season, the Cavaliers needed to take advantage of their full week of uninterrupted practice to prepare for the postseason. And according the players, they have.
“I think we’ve had a good energy all week in practice — [there’s] a little bad taste in our mouth because we got that loss,” senior forward Ryan Zinkhan said. “We feel really positive because we did play really well even with a man down.”
From this point forward, No. 21 Virginia’s (9-5-1, 3-3-1 ACC) schedule will not get any easier, as it will travel to face No. 6 North Carolina (12-4-0, 5-2-0 ACC) Saturday to close both teams’ regular seasons.
The Tar Heels have presented an annual test the Cavaliers have failed since 2008. North Carolina is unbeaten in the last seven matches against Virginia — including a 1-0 victory last season that ended the Cavaliers’ 11-game unbeaten streak.
“I know all the fourth-year guys are really eager to win this game and beat them for once,” Zinkhan said.
But to come away with a victory, Virginia will have to rely on the strength of its team — the defense — to slow down North Carolina’s high-octane offense.
The Tar Heels, coming off a 6-2 win against Georgia Southern Tuesday, boast the third-best scoring offense in the nation. They’re averaging 2.38 goals per game, led by senior forward Andy Craven.
Craven missed last season due to injury, but this year he is fourth in the country with 11 goals on the season.
The task awaiting Virginia will be even more difficult due to the absence of redshirt freshman defender Wesley Suggs for two games after his second red-card of the season against Wake Forest. Throughout the week, Virginia has been experimenting with lineups, as they will be forced to shuffle their three defenders.
Zinkhan came back from his right-midfield position after Suggs’ penalty against Wake Forest to play right fullback, while senior defender Kyler Sullivan — normally Virginia’s right-fullback — slid in to play center-back. However, the Cavaliers could also keep Sullivan and his brother, redshirt freshman defender Sheldon Sullivan, at their respective wing-positions and insert senior defender Matt Brown, who has started 35 career matches, as the center back.
Regardless of who earns the start, the Cavaliers believe they have enough talent to combat Suggs’ absence.
“We have so much depth on this team, so any guy we put in there, we have confidence that they’re going to do a good job,” Zinkhan said.
Still, for Virginia to leave Chapel Hill with a victory will also require greater contributions on the offensive half of the field.
Virginia has not wanted for scoring chances this season, but the Cavaliers failed to capitalize on opportunities for both early leads and late equalizers in each of their past two losses.
Though the offensive production has certainly been below Gelnovatch’s desires, he maintains his Cavaliers are just one lucky break away from catching fire.
“I like the chances we’re creating [and] the opportunities we’re getting,” Gelnovatch said. “I would like to finish at a better rate, but we are creating chances. That’s all I can ask right now.”
Even though North Carolina — currently on a seven-game win streak — has climbed its way up to No. 6 in the polls, the Cavaliers are actually still three-spots ahead of them in the RPI, used to determine the NCAA postseason bids.
This, combined with Virginia’s energy still radiating from last Friday’s loss, has the Cavaliers confident that if they play with a similar passion as they did against Wake Forest, they can close their season on a positive note.
“We need to play with that same kind of desperation, only this time with 10 field players instead of nine,” Gelnovatch said.
Kickoff is scheduled 7 p.m. Saturday at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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