Wahoo Wire

At long last the soccer season is finally here.  The UVA Women’s Soccer team will look to improve upon last year’s deep NCAA Tournament run with only one starter having graduated this past May.  The young Cavaliers finished last season 11-7-4 in a brutal ACC that had 8 teams (including UVA) make it to the NCAA Tournament, including eventual champions North Carolina.  During the regular season they did well to beat then #4 Florida State in addition to drawing with #5 Wake Forest, #15 West Virginia, and #19 Maryland.  After a heartbreaking penalty kicks loss to #6 Boston College in the ACC Tournament, the UVA Women’s Soccer team regrouped and got an invite to the NCAA Tournament for the 16^th consecutive year.

In the NCAA Tournament the Cavaliers beat St. John’s on penalties in the first round, beat the #4 seed Penn State 6-2 in the second round, and lost in the round of 16 to #1 seed and eventual semi-finalists UCLA 3-0 in Los Angeles.  It was the fifth appearance in a row in the round of 16 for the Cavaliers who will look to make it even further this year.

Though the team will miss former starting forward Caitlin Miskel and contributing seniors Jess Rostedt, Amanda Stewart, and Blair Weymouth, there are many players ready to fill their voids including a strong class of 7 first years.  Amongst the seven are Forwards Gloria Douglas, who has played for U-18 United States National Team, and Mary Morgan, who if she plays anything like her former classmate at Maury High School (Norfolk, Va.) and former UVA Men’s Soccer standout and New York Red Bulls Midfielder Tony Tchani, the UVA Women’s Soccer team could be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Currently there are 7 ACC teams ranked in the top 20 though (including UVA which is ranked 17^th), making this season not just a walk in the park for the UVA Women’s Soccer team.  Overall, the Cavaliers will play 8 currently ranked teams, with away games at #6 Florida State, #13 Penn State, #15 Virginia Tech, #16 Maryland, and  #24 West Virginia and home games versus  #1 North Carolina, #7 Boston College, #10 Wake Forest.  The team’s 10 other games are not easy either, with hard away games at ACC foes Miami and Clemson as well as a tough early season neutral field match against Connecticut.  Regardless of how hard the schedule is, I think the UVA Women’s Soccer team will finish the regular season 10-4-4, win a game or two in the ACC Tournament, get a three seed in their 17^th straight NCAA tournament and at least make it to the round of 16.

The Cavaliers have played really well in preseason beating #4 Notre Dame 4-1 and drawing with a scrappy James Madison 1-1.  Though the score did not show it, UVA dominated JMU outshooting their opponent 21-8.  The offense is led by last year’s three leading goal scorers fourth year attacking midfielder and first team All-ACC Sinead Farrelly, fourth year forward Meghan Lenczyk, and third year forward Lauren Alwine.  Lenczyk and Alwine had a goal and assist each and Farrelly had an assist versus Notre Dame.  Douglas (who scored against JMU), second year transfer from Vermont Forward Emily Perrin, and fourth year midfielder/defender Colleen Flanagan rounded out the rest of the preseason scoring.  Beyond a strong attack, the UVA Women’s Soccer team is also very strong at the back, led by third year goalkeeper and member of the U-23 United States National Team Chantel Jones.  Jones’ talents are not known only to UVA fans though; the US national team has kept tabs on her, even having her miss the 2008 season because she was playing in the U-20 World Cup.  Other teammates with some international experience include fellow U-23 team member Flanagan, U-20 United States National Team member Julia Roberts, and Douglas as previously mentioned.  With so much talent and experience, this is a team you will want to pay attention to this season.

The UVA Women’s Soccer season starts August 20^th versus Liberty at 7pm at Klöckner Stadium. For a complete team schedule, click here