Radford Embarrasses Virginia Tech Men’s Soccer, 3-2

By: Sam Mostow | VT SMA '26
Marco Vesterholm and the Hokies struck early against Radford but couldn’t hold on in the 3-2 defeat. (Virginia Tech athletics)

Radford embarrassed Virginia Tech men’s soccer on Tuesday, scoring three goals in 13 minutes to secure a 3-2 win.

Tuesday’s match marked the first time the Highlanders (3-10-2) defeated the Hokies (4-7-4) in Blacksburg since Sept. 12, 2000.

“We played with heart and guts tonight,” Radford head coach Chris Barrett told Tech Sideline after the match. “That’s what I ask of them every time, that’s what we can control.”

Trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Highlanders scored two quick goals to tie the match in the 33rd minute. In the 37th, midfielder Mateo Perez Nance took a free kick from outside the Tech 18-yard box. He struck the ball with his right foot, curling over the Hokies’ wall and into the net, past diving keeper Connor Jordan-Hyde. 

While the teams combined to score five goals in the first 37 minutes, they scored zero in the final 53 as the Highlanders held on for the victory.

“No matter who it was, tonight is a big win for us,” Barrett said. “Obviously, when it’s a huge rivalry like this, it’s huge for us.”

Barrett knows the feeling firsthand: He played goalkeeper at Radford, graduating in 1994. In his 17 seasons at the university as a player, assistant coach and head coach, he had only experienced four wins against Virginia Tech, and until Tuesday, none since 2009.

“I told the boys before, back in the old days, this was the rivalry game,” Barrett said. “This is what we looked forward to every year. It’s huge, being local and living in [Virginia Tech’s] shadow a bit over there. Any time we can compete at this level — and obviously get a result — it’s huge momentum for us.”

As the match was expiring, further solidifying Radford’s win with every passing second, Barrett just wanted the clock to tick faster.

“We’ve played hard and we’ve played well and not gotten results this year,” he said. “To finally get the outcome and to finally get this is what you play sports for. You can see the reaction of my guys here and it speaks for itself about what this means to us. I think it just reiterates what we’ve been saying all along: that if we put it all together, we can be — we are — a good team. Finally, the results are coming.”

The first 20 minutes included a few highlights for Tech, and it appeared it would cruise to a blowout victory. Both of the Hokies’ goals were from a connection between midfielder Marco Vesterholm and forward Conor Pugh.

In the third minute, Vesterholm sent a through ball into the Radford 18-yard box to Pugh, who crossed back to Vesterholm for the goal. That was the earliest Tech has scored in a match this season, surpassing Noe Uwimana’s seventh-minute goal against High Point on Sept. 26.

Pugh followed with a goal of his own in the 21st minute when Vesterholm sent a cross into the 18-yard box, allowing Pugh to easily head the ball in.

Despite surrendering early goals, the Highlanders roared back, and the Hokies couldn’t get anything out of the match despite firing seven second-half shots, five more than Radford.

“Soccer comes and goes throughout games and Tech is really, really good,” Barrett said. “In the last few games, we really found that inner determination and work ethic and they’re busting it for each other. It’s a tough season, so to get this kind of reward, you can see what the celebration means to this group.”

Andy Sullins and the Hokies had seven second-half shots but couldn’t get that decisive goal. (Virginia Tech athletics)

While the first half was full of clean, offensive soccer, the second half was the direct opposite. Combined fouls (13) outnumbered combined shots (nine) in the latter 45 minutes. The Highlanders picked up six yellow cards in the final 50 minutes, including one assessed to Barrett, while the Hokies picked up two.

Radford keeper Alex Eydelman finished the match with eight saves, his highest total since Oct. 2021 against Elon. His play prevented the Hokies from salvaging a point. 

“This time of year, the soccer sort of dwindles down and becomes a test of will, a lot of times,” Barrett said. “It’s kind of the old cliche: Who kind of wants it more is going to get there.”

The Hokies still have only two home wins this season, none since defeating High Point. They’re 2-3-4 at Thompson Field.

Virginia Tech travels to No. 8 Duke on Friday for its final match of the regular season. With a win, it would host the first round of the ACC Tournament, while a loss would mean traveling to another conference foe and trying to ignite a postseason run on the road.

Box Score: Radford 3, Virginia Tech 2

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9 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Sincere congratulations to Coach Barrett and Radford for a great win, but is his statement: “Obviously, when it’s a huge rivalry like this, it’s huge for us.” Is this a “huge rivalry” for VT? That’s news to me. I can see where Radford would think so, but it takes two to tango, right?

  2. I’m not on board with describing a one goal loss to a Division 1 opponent in a soccer match as an embarrassment…..

    2. Yep, agree, embarrassing – a feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness” Anyone playing Division one sports has no reason to be a shame because of how they do it. Sam you can do better….

    3. Maybe “embarrassed” is a bit strong l, but I think the idea is this – Radford’s RPI is #204 (out of 211 men’s teams), so they’re not good.

      Guess it’s kinda like when our football team lost to Temple in 1998. That was only a 4-point loss, but still embarrassing. (And yes, I realize it’s not quite apples-to-apples because our soccer team is not highly ranked like our football team was back then, but you get the idea.)

      I think it’s easier for something like this to happen in soccer than in football, but this was still not a bad loss, which I assume was his main point.

    1. Virginia Tech coaches and players did not speak to the media after the game. Only Radford’s coaches and players did.

      1. And that’s a pretty poor reflection on the coaching staff if nothing else. They’re not interested in talking after a poor loss, probably shouldn’t be coaching. Given their results that’s possible even without talking.

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