Virginia Tech men’s and women’s soccer each drew their opponents in Thursday night’s doubleheader at Thompson Field. The women had a goalless contest against Old Dominion while freshman Oliver Roche scored the lone goal for the Hokies on the men’s side in their 1-1 result vs. Loyola (Md.).
Virginia Tech men’s soccer 1, Loyola (Md.) 1
Roche’s right-footed strike in the 58th minute leveled the contest after Richie Nichols put the Greyhounds on the board first with a free kick in the 47th minute.
“I thought we had heart, grit, energy,” Hokies head coach Mike Brizendine told Tech Sideline afterwards. “We’re not over the hump, but what I told those guys [is] we’re moving in the right direction. That Loyola team is very, very good, very athletic, very experienced and I think it’s something that we can build on.”
Tech (0-2-1) and Loyola (0-1-2) had a goalless first half that featured 10 combined shots and five corners. However, the better chances for both sides came in the second frame.
Hokies center back Theo Drennan stopped a Greyhounds counterattack a few minutes after the break and was shown a yellow card. Nichols curled the ensuing free kick from about 25 yards out into the side netting of the far post.
Tech responded, though, in front of over 1,300 at Thompson Field in its home opener. Less than 90 seconds after subbing on, right wing back Noe Uwimana swung a ball into the box that found the feet of Roche. After a great first touch that pushed him away from goal, he turned and slotted the ball across the goal.
𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗟❗️
Oliver Roche gets the Hokies on the board and Thompson Field is rockin'
🦃 » 1 | 🐶 » 1 pic.twitter.com/0pyG65aH4v
— Virginia Tech Men’s Soccer (@HokiesMSoccer) September 1, 2023
“He was great,” Brizendine said of Roche. “I thought he was making life very, very difficult for them. I was super, super happy about that.”
Roche had a game-high four shots, three of which were on goal. In the 63rd minute, he hit the post off a corner and Conor Pugh’s rebound was just wide. Despite that, his first collegiate goal is a step in the right direction.
“[It gives me] a lot of confidence,” Roche said. “I know it’s a draw but I feel like we’re building a base and don’t need to look too much at the numbers right now. I know they don’t look so good, but I feel like we’re making progress every day.”
It was a fair result for the Hokies after two frustrating defeats vs. UCLA (4-1) and Duquesne (5-1) in which they conceded seven goals in the second half. That wasn’t the case on Thursday; despite the set piece goal, they limited the Greyhounds to four shots on goal and found a way to grind out a draw.
“These guys need to learn how to win,” Brizendine said. “They don’t know what it’s like, they haven’t experienced it. They weren’t here during our Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen runs. … I think it’s a good building block as we move on to Davidson.”
Costa Rican forward Marcos Escoe saw his first minutes for the program this season after dealing with an injury and made an immediate impact. He had three shots, including two chances in the 62nd minute on a breakaway that Loyola goalkeeper Dylan van der Walt saved. Though he didn’t score, he showed his potential to be a real threat.
“He just has quality,” center midfielder Marco Vesterholm said of Escoe. “He can beat his man, he’s so fast, he’s always reliable. If you ball in behind, he’ll chase it, so it’s just nice playing with him. It’s good to have him back.”
Up next is Davidson on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET in Blacksburg (ACC Network Extra). The Wildcats (1-0) are a veteran squad who beat Tech 3-1 last September. Fresh off their first point of the season, the Hokies hope to keep building on the positive momentum.
“[They] return their whole team that beat us 3-1 last year,” Brizendine said. “4-4-2, they’re very organized, they make things very difficult so we’re going to have to put in a good shift.”
Virginia Tech women’s soccer 0, Old Dominion 0
It was a more disappointing result for Chugger Adair & Co. on Thursday evening. After starting the season on the right foot with two wins and three clean sheets in the first three matches, Tech (2-1-2) dropped last Sunday’s contest at then-No. 20 Georgetown (1-0) and drew with the Monarchs on Thursday.
“I thought we were a little sloppy in the first half,” Adair told Tech Sideline after the draw. “We didn’t come to play, we weren’t as crisp moving the ball and they did a good job of clogging the midfield early on and got in our face and made it difficult for us to play. So we’ve got to rise above that and play better in possession.”
The Hokies only allowed one real chance to ODU (4-0-1) on Thursday in their second home game of the year, which came in the 82nd minute. ODU forward Reha Kijowski dribbled into the box from the left side and fired a shot at Tech keeper Alia Skinner, who was positioned well. It rocketed past her and ricocheted off the right post before bouncing into her clutches.
“I think we know our goal so I think we work well together,” Tech center back Victoria Haugen said. “The goal that was against us [at Georgetown] was a little bit confusing but it’s also a good learning experience for us because it’s things that can happen again in a game so we just need to make sure we learn from it and move on, which I think we did today.”
On the other side, Tech didn’t take advantage of its opportunities. Kendall DiMillio found Taylor Price at the top of the box with her back to goal in the 44th minute, who spun to her left and fired a shot that deflected off the post. In the 62nd minute, recently subbed on Ella Valente had a one-on-one with ODU keeper Emily Bredek that was saved. Four minutes later, Natalie Mitchell and Taylor Bryan had two solid looks on back-to-back possessions that fell short.
“We’re showing our inconsistencies,” Adair said. “That’s frustrating for us. Today was a difficult game and we’ve got to kind of work through that and get a result. … I don’t think we did much in the first half; in the second half, we created a couple that were really good chances that we should have taken. I was frustrated we didn’t take one of those, but [ODU] defended well.”
The Hokies have a road trip to Charlotte up next on the docket, a 5 p.m. ET contest on Sunday afternoon that will be televised on ESPN+. The 49ers (2-2-1) recorded two wins and a draw after starting off the 2023 campaign with two one-goal losses, including a 3-2 defeat to James Madison. Tech beat the Dukes 3-0 at home recently.
“They’re a little bit more athletic up front, they move the ball well,” Adair said of the 49ers. “It’s going to be a difficult game for us to go down and get a result so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go.”
Print
Comments are closed.