As autumn’s colours give strategy to the more and more leafless chilly of late November, the autumn sports season offers strategy to the winter sports season. From the warmth of rivalry wins to the chills of postseason heartbreak, this 12 months has been one to recollect. Below, three beat writers from The Cavalier Daily talk about their ideas on the digital Thanksgiving desk.
Which Cavalier victory are you most grateful for this 12 months?
Caroline Wulff, Staff Writer: Covering cross nation, the victory I’ve been most grateful for was the lads’s win at ACCs this 12 months. Led by senior Gary Martin, who took second total, the workforce was capable of obtain a very cohesive placement and managed to defeat the runners from Syracuse who had posed a critical problem within the second third of the race. This Virginia workforce was made up largely of graduate college students and seniors, who’ve been with this system for years, and this race was actually the fruits of a lot of their work.
Joe Schweisow, Staff Writer: It might really feel like the plain reply, however Virginia’s monumental unranked upset over then-No. 8 Florida State will likely be a night time mentioned at Cavalier Thanksgiving tables for generations to come back. With a standalone primetime tv slot, the most important ESPN Friday sport viewers turned to Scott Stadium. Between coaxing a pivotal Seminole false begin in double extra time and a viral field storming, the Virginia devoted lived as much as the “4th Side” moniker the University group adorns them with. And with an attendance quantity standing over 50,000 robust, the tales of triumph are positive to be handed on throughout the commonweatlh and past.
Mariam Tafwed, Staff Writer: The males’s soccer workforce had a monumental season, stacked with upsets, aggressive performs and a rock-stable 8-0-4 house document. The tone-setter of this season? Their thrilling upset towards No. 1 Wake Forest, the place they took down the Demon Deacons 6-3 at Klöckner Stadium. Punching out a 5-0 lead, Virginia by no means flinched even regardless of an aggressive pushback within the latter half of the sport from Wake Forest, with six substitutions and three objectives inside a 13-minute span. This victory marked this system’s first main win over a prime-ranked males’s soccer workforce since 2019, setting the tempo for an thrilling and dominant season.
Virginia takes on the Hokies in soccer Saturday. What are you watching for in this 12 months’s Commonwealth Clash?
CW: Outside of the workforce, I’m actually trying to see if, even over Thanksgiving break, Virginia can pull a giant crowd to Scott Stadium. This 12 months has actually stored Cavalier followers on the sting of their seat –– Virginia soccer didn’t get the nickname “the Cardiac Cavaliers” for no motive. That engagement from college students and followers, main to raised attendance in comparison with final 12 months, has made video games just like the match versus Florida State a lot extra thrilling. Ideally, towards the Hokies Saturday, Scott Stadium is crammed to the brim with orange and blue.
JS: I’ll be sure you hold a watch on the Cavalier damage report each earlier than and after the Commonwealth Clash. Tuesday, Coach Tony Elliott confirmed that junior linebacker Kam Robinson will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Meanwhile, graduate quarterback Chandler Morris has had his share of shoulder issues, and a potential concussion. Virginia wants its playmakers on the sector, and whereas the Cavaliers can not look previous the Hokies, they’ll want their stars that rather more in a potential ACC Championship bout.
MT: Aside from experiencing the electrical environment that Scott Stadium has been serving all season — paired with the scrumptious rowdiness of a rivalry — I’m personally excited for this 12 months’s Commonwealth Clash as a result of I believe it is perhaps a nearer and extra excessive-scoring should-win than anticipated. I anticipate Virginia’s offense to proceed its dominant run and am excited to see how Virginia Tech’s protection fares in response — particularly coming off of its loss towards Miami through which they allowed 320 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.
Everyone loves a Thanksgiving facet dish — which Cavalier has dished the most effective assists in any sport this 12 months?
CW: Men’s soccer’s graduate defender Sebastian Pop has been a key a part of the workforce. Coach George Gelnovatch known as him “the best center back in our league,” which is a fairly excellent praise for a participant that has solely been with Virginia this season. Even although males’s soccer was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in a stunning second spherical upset, Pop and firm produced a stellar season. He deserves his flowers.
JS: In a facet of the sport that usually goes unlauded, I’d like to present thanks for graduate punter Daniel Sparks and the best way he assists the protection by flipping the sector. While the offensive development for the Cavaliers this 12 months has supplied Sparks lower than 30 alternatives to indicate off the boot, the productiveness stays as he ranks second within the ACC in yards per punt. While no workforce desires to rely on their punter each sport, Virginia will be grateful they’ve Sparks when it comes time to pin the opposition deep.
MT: One Cavalier that I’ve been following intently this 12 months has been males’s basketball’s graduate guard Dallin Hall. He proved to be a robust asset in this system’s season opening overcome Rider, through which he picked up 5 factors, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Hall demonstrates a type of effectively-roundedness that speaks to the strengths and experiences he brings to this system from his time at BYU. Continuing this momentum, he dished out seven assists alongside with three factors and two rebounds towards Hampton eight days later. I firmly consider his early-on steadiness and tacticity on the courtroom have made him an essential and rising presence on the roster.