The Virginia men’s soccer team last competed nearly two weeks ago in a disheartening 3-0 defeat in the ACC Quarterfinals against Notre Dame. After making it to the ACC Championship game last season, this was not the stepping-stone the Cavaliers wanted.
But to coach George Gelnovatch, 2014’s ACC Tournament was not dramatically different from last year’s. Both ended in a loss — which is never good enough for a squad coached by Gelnovatch.
“I don’t think it was any different riding back on that bus from the ACC Championship than it was flying back from Notre Dame,” Gelnovatch said. “It was just absolutely gutting and disappointing.”
So when Monday finally came around, Virginia — eight days after being eliminated from the ACC postseason — was finally able to take a collective sigh of relief as the selection committee still pegged them as the No. 16 seed, giving the Cavaliers an always appreciated first-round bye.
Now, Virginia (10-6-2, 3-3-2 ACC) will face the winner of a Thursday night clash Sunday in Klöckner stadium, battling either UNC-Wilmington (12-4-2, 5-2-1 CAA) and Bucknell (10-9-3, 4-3-2 Patriot League).
With what is essentially a two-week bye between games, the Cavaliers have taken advantage of their time off. Between the mix of the program’s history and the team’s recent success, such a long break could have become a distraction for the Cavaliers, but the experienced Gelnovatch — entering his 19th consecutive NCAA tournament — was not about to let that happen.
“Just because you’re winning, just because you get a bye, or just because you get into the tournament, it’s not same-old, same-old,” Gelnovatch said. “I think coming out of the Notre Dame game, there were a couple things that were coming to the surface that maybe finally surfaced that we’ve been addressing and that we’ve had time to address.”
And while Gelnovatch has been busy tinkering with lineups and returning his squad to form, his players are just as focused on moving forward.
After Monday’s practice, several seniors called together the team to share their experiences of losing in last season’s final four. In their fourth game of the NCAA tournament, the Cavaliers dropped a soul-crushing 2-1 defeat against Maryland.
For the Cavaliers’ who saw their magical run come to an abrupt end, avenging that loss has been the focus of the season.
“Having to wait a whole year to get back to that situation in that type of game is frustrating, but you don’t want to be back there again and have the same thing happen,” senior defender Kyler Sullivan said. “It’s just something to rally everyone together and make everyone realize why we’re working so hard in practice and why we’re doing what we’re doing — so we can get back to that spot and hopefully get a step further to the national championship game.”
But to get that far, the Virginia will have to deal with several other foes. And perhaps the biggest key to doing so will be igniting a rather dormant offense, which averaged just more than one goal per game through the past 18 matches.
And if the Cavaliers follow their blueprint from the past four seasons, senior midfielder Eric Bird could be the spark the Virginia needs.
Bird — a first-team all-ACC selection — leads the Cavaliers with five goals on the season, two more than junior forward Darius Madison and sophomore forward Nicko Corriveau, who are tied for second on the team with three goals each.
Fortunately for Virginia, if these past two weeks of practice are any indication, Bird is up for the challenge. In his second season as captain, the senior is well rested and ready to make one final run at a championship.
“He seems to be reinvigorated,” Gelnovatch said. “He’s been buzzing around, animated and vocal because it’s his senior year — it’s his last chance.”
Even those Cavaliers who are not seniors do not seem to need extra motivation, though. Last season’s College Cup loss — combined with a couple more matches Virginia would have liked to have back this regular season — is plenty.
Since the moment the final whistle blew that fateful December evening last year in Philadelphia, the Cavaliers have been waiting for revenge. Their quest begins Sunday.
“We’re playing with a chip on our shoulders knowing we could have done even more last year,” Sullivan said. “We know exactly how we don’t want to feel after losing that semifinal game. We’re just going to give it our all and hopefully the best comes out of it.”
Sunday’s kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium.
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