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behind the scenes The Women's Soccer Team's Trip To England The Virginia women's soccer squad is well into their 2013 campaign, but the team's ultimate success this fall will find roots in the players' ability to regroup during the offseason, which was highlighted by a May trip to England. Coming off the high of an ACC championship and the low of falling to Duke in the NCAA Tournament's third round, the Cavaliers faced a pivotal point that could break the upcoming season prior to even taking the pitch. After bonding and growing closer during a 12-day trip "Losing to Duke left a sour taste," fourth-year to England this past May, the Cavaliers won their first defender Molly Menchel said. "When we came seven games this season and outscored opponents back in January … we all knew how good it felt 28-3 in the process. photo courtesy uva to win and how hard we had to work. It was just a matter of keeping our heads up, but then putting caster 5-1 and Watford 2-0. our heads down and getting to work. "You are playing teams that you never played before, "We went through our goals, short term and long and a lot of them are a lot older and more physical," Fry term. A big part of it was seeing the whole picture of it." said. "We messed with new lineups and new formations, Virginia returned nine players that had started at least and those are all challenges." 13 games each en route to a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs The adjustments were multiple, and patience was the and an 18-5-1 record in 2012. The Cavaliers won each of name of the game. From security checks to a three-hour their exhibition matches in the spring, including a vic- bus delay that made the team late for the first game, the tory over Duke, signifying just how the team was able to Cavaliers pulled together in an atypical setting. move on from that tournament loss, and how well they "On some teams, if you are with each other for that were bonding. long, you can get annoyed with somebody, but with our "We got together and said, 'We have to figure this team, and I think that's what makes it pretty cool, we all out, what we are going to do, how this team is going to loved being with each other all the time," Menchel said. change and transition,'" fourth-year forward/midfielder The trip was all about soccer as they also attended Amber Fry said. "It happened pretty quickly. It was awe- several games, including a match between England some this year the way that everyone stepped up." and Ireland (their first meeting in 18 years) in front of After the spring season, the Cavaliers took advantage 80,000-plus fans. of the NCAA-sanctioned period to practice leading up "We were in the Ireland section and their fans are to the excursion to England, which itself lasted 12 days. actually insane," Fry said. "We had our faces painted. The Cavaliers lost the first of their three matches in People were screaming, banging drums and singing. We England, falling 2-1 to Chelsea, but hit the crossbar five learned all of the Irish cheers. It was crazy!" times in the loss. They responded by defeating Don— Sean Corso