No. 11 Florida State and No. 3 Virginia will meet Thursday at 6 p.m. in Charlottesville, VA.
Following last year’s game, which ended in a 4-0 Florida State victory, and this year’s results, what should
we expect from the matchup? We would like to welcome Val Prochaska of SI.com to answer our questions about the Virginia Cavaliers.
Virginia was good last year but they have taken a big step forward to elite status this year. What have been some of the factors contributing to the resurgence?
Well, Virginia failed to qualify for the ACC tournament last season, for the second straight year, so I don’t know that I would characterize them as good last year. At least not to the standards of a Steve Swanson team. The biggest difference this year has been overall team health. You alluded to FSU’s lineup churn as a factor in the uneven play of your ‘Noles on my site and we’ve been the exact opposite this year. Wide midfielder Jill Flammia missed two games and that’s just about it. Swanson has run out the same lineup for eleven games. This is also an experienced team: Lia Godfrey and Laney Rouse, thanks to COVID and a red-shirt season, are sixth-year seniors. There are four other seniors and three juniors in the starting lineup. Everybody is very much on the same page.
It seems like Lia Godfrey has returned to form after a disappointing campaign last year. What have you seen from her that explains her improvement?
You are right about that. Godfrey is a serious candidate for the MAC Hermann trophy, but she’s always been this good. It clearly took her longer to recover from her ACL injury than maybe was expected. She played last year but was not herself. She’s fully healthy, and if anything she’s gained a step. She can separate from just about anybody. And Rouse is having the same sixth-year Renaissance. She missed a full year and played last year, albeit less effectively, and now she’s having a career year.
UVA has been pretty dominant all year but the last three games have been a bit bumpy. Is this just a rough patch that any team can go through or do you have deeper concerns?
It’s a good position to be in when one describes a tie away at Louisville, a team that has outscored opponents 43 – 3 at home, and a tie to Cal and a loss to Stanford on the West Coast, as “bumpy.” Nevertheless, Virginia has not played to standards these past two weeks. My biggest concern is that Virginia is getting zero production from the central striker position. Meredith McDermott and Addison Halpern have combined for two goals all season. The Cavaliers have scored 30 goals to date and maybe two thirds of them have been from outside the box, which is unsustainable. If Swanson were reading my columns, he’d be giving Allie Ross a trial at center forward. An inability to finish in the box (plus, we have zero aerial presence) allowed Virginia Tech to hang around (and almost tie the game in very last second) and gave Cal the chance to knot the score late. Virginia has always been wasteful in front of goal, but in the last eight years, we did have Meg McCool, Diana Ordonez (twice,) and Haley Hopkins tally 15 goals. There’s not one remotely close on this year’s version.
What are some of the keys to this game on Thursday?
Well, the book is out on Virginia: press high against the back line. Virginia is technically excellent, and keeper Victoria Safradin’s distribution has greatly improved from last year, but if you have speed and athletes, you will be able to force an error. Virginia has not been a physical team in the past decade I have been watching, and you have successfully bullied us in the past, but this team is still susceptible to that. Jordynn Dudley’s speed frightens me. If Florida State sits back, this midfield trio of Godfrey, Flammia and Ella Carter, can dominate. Virginia won’t make many errors. Who best capitalizes on the other team’s errors is most likely going to win.
Which players other than Lia Godfrey and Maggie Cagle have to play well for Virginia to get a result in this game?
The central defense pairing of Kiki Maki and Tatum Galvin. Maki’s four-year growth has been as remarkable as Jenna Nighswonger’s. It’s just a testament to great, sustained player development. I feared she would be the weak link in this team but she’s been really solid. And Galvin turns under pressure as well as anyone in the ACC. But neither are fast. And while both are quite solid in the air, they don’t possess the height of Wrianna Hudson and Dudley.
The player you will enjoy watching that we haven’t mentioned yet is Dutch freshman Liv Rademaker who starts at left back. She has decent pace and a nose for attack. She slots well in the tradition of Courtney Petersen and Samar Guidry (her first two years) as left backs who can hurt you.
Thanks so much Val for your in-depth and informative answers.
This critical game will kick off at 6:00 p.m. from Charlottesville, VA. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
