It has been only a couple weeks, but already a daunting reality is looming for Virginia men’s soccer — here comes conference play. Here comes unremitting soccer, a test of mettle and moxie and togetherness. Here comes the brutal annual challenge.
Perhaps junior defender Nick Dang, pausing for a moment before boarding the team bus, said it best. He had just finished a resolute performance against Maryland, sprinting around patching holes and scoring a goal, and now he stopped to reflect.
“Every game is going to be just like that,” Dang said. “If not harder.”
It is nothing new, of course, that conference play will be grueling, but this year it arrives at an interesting moment. The Cavaliers are 2-1-1, jostled by the rollercoaster of the first four games — the gradual dismantling of Rider, the stunning loss to Colgate, the swift walloping of St. Joseph’s and the bitter stalemate against Maryland.
Poll voters punished Virginia after the Colgate loss. The nation’s former No. 13 team got booted out of the rankings, even out of the rambling “others receiving votes” section, the one that stretches almost as long as the actual poll. Nobody, it seems, thinks Virginia should be ranked.
That is okay and not particularly cause for concern. Rankings are fickle. Nowhere is that more true than in men’s college soccer, where parity is taking over and where top teams routinely struggle to separate from inferior foes. It is the nature of the sport.
The focus, for now, is more on progression, about piecing together solid performances, shoring up the gaps. Coach George Gelnovatch seemed pleased, in that respect, after the 1-1 draw against Maryland.
“Man, do I think we were outstanding,” Gelnovatch said. “I don’t think, in the run of play, [Maryland] had a good chance. Not one good, good, scary chance. And I give our guys a lot of credit for the defending, one-on-one defending, the collective defending.”
The defending is one overwhelming early positive — Virginia has permitted just four shots on goal in its four games, a simply preposterous statistic. Dang, a Lipscomb transfer who arrived in the spring, has anchored the group in the middle. Sophomore midfielder Brendan Lambe has also been positive, a multifaceted player who switched to defense from midfield in the offseason but still often moves up in possession.
The defense is the most settled thing about this team, something it can always rely on. But the midfield is also relatively figured out. Fifth-year midfielder Daniel Mangarov is there to swing in his signature crosses, the ones that invariably dip and spin into treacherous positions. Junior midfielder Umberto Pelà is also there to perform defensive duties and, every so often, hit his trademark piercing diagonal balls.
The question, still, is the goals. They came against Rider. They came, in a flood, against St. Joseph’s. But they failed to materialize against Colgate and, at least not in the run of play, against Maryland.
Gelnovatch has options for the front line, a great many of them, a veritable ream. The issue is figuring out which will eventually turn into the reliable scorer the team so desperately needs. Gelnovatch brought on four substitutes against Maryland. All four were forwards. He is still trying to figure this thing out.
The most likely candidate to emerge as that reliable scorer is graduate forward Hayes Wood, another Lipscomb transfer. He has shown flashes, opening his account against St. Joseph’s and nearly scoring the would-be winner against the Terrapins.
The chances looked almost identical — a through ball, a foot race then Wood simply shouldering his defender off the ball. He evokes hazy memories, in this way, of Daryl Dike, the human steamroller who helped drag the program to a 2019 ACC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament title game.
It may be premature to compare the two, the program legend and the guy with one goal. Wood, surely, will have to persist in developing, but he is doing well so far.
“He’s a beast,” Gelnovatch said, after the St. Joseph’s game. “We’re still bringing him along. Every game he’s getting a little bit better.”
Another promising option up top is junior forward Triton Beauvois, the shifty speedster who assisted the opening goal against St. Joseph’s. He works best in open space, with room to run. Carving out that space will be difficult against scrupulously organized conference opponents.
Everything, actually, will be more difficult against conference opponents. The games come like boxing rounds, with time in between but forcing you to stand upright in the ring at the appointed moment. The trip to Maryland at least provided a good appetizer.
“My guys showed that resilience,” Gelnovatch said. “I feel like we can go on the road, and be strong and be solid and be good defensively.”
The inevitably bloody conference slate, with all its awaiting carnage, begins Friday, at home against Duke. Then comes a trip to Wake Forest, and a cross-country journey to California. Dang, the leading scorer, the anchor of the back line, embodies what the team needs.
“He’s a warrior,” Gelnovatch said. “He seems to be getting better and better with every game.”
Virginia needs both those things — the warrior part and the improving with every game part. Because things will only get harder.
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