Virginia Tech men’s soccer was a regular in the NCAA Tournament from 2016-21. After a two-year hiatus from the Big Dance, the Hokies feel rejuvenated, especially after adding a ton of quality in the offseason, and hope they can get back on track in 2024.
“I want to get us back to where we’ve been in the past six or seven years so many times,” midfielder Carter Hensley told Tech Sideline on Monday. “The last two years have just been a hiccup, in my opinion, and I think we’re going to fix it this year.”
Hensley knows better than anyone what success at Tech looks like. A senior, he’s one of three holdovers from the 2021 group that finished 11-5-4 and won an NCAA Tournament game. Winger Declan Quill and goalkeeper Timi Adams are the others.
The last two years have been painful for the Hokies with a combined 7-23-5 record, which included an 0-8 ACC campaign in 2022. They started conference play well last year, drawing North Carolina before beating No. 5 Louisville and Boston College, but after conceding a game-winner in the dying seconds at eventual national champions Clemson, they started to slide. A 3-3-3 record at the end of September turned into a 4-9-4 mark by season’s end.
They’ve turned the page, though, and head into the fall with positive momentum. There’s a sense of belief and confidence around the program that this team can be successful, for a variety of reasons. They’ve got good leadership in defender Willie Cardona and Hensley, their captains, and have better depth across the board.
The challenge is everyone meshing together — a somewhat complicated task when there are 14 returners and 14 newcomers. Having eight of those guys enroll in the spring semester was a positive, though. They acclimated during a quieter time, and it means there are only six true newcomers on the squad in August.
“It was nice for them to get accustomed to, ‘This is where our locker room is, this is where our field is, this is how we do business,’” head coach Mike Brizendine said. “So instead of me having to do that now in this unbelievably tight window of a preseason, I’ve already done a lot of that work. … I’d love to do it every year.”
There are two new additions to the coaching staff, too. Virginia Tech graduate Kyle Renfro is back in Blacksburg after spending five seasons as Duke’s goalkeepers coach, and Matt Watts, the former head coach at D-II Nova Southeastern, is a fresh face. Brizendine went outside of his bubble and spent an “unbelievable” amount of time trying to find the right fit, and Watts has been a great fit so far.
“He’s making a big impact,” All-ACC Freshman Team defender Noe Uwimana said of Watts. “He’s a really good coach. I really like him. He gets his voice out there, he’s heard, and I love the way he sees the game. I think you’ll see a big difference from the way we play.”
Renfro’s overseeing a goalkeeper battle in the preseason, which includes senior Cooper Wenzel, a transfer from Cal State University Northridge (CSUN). He’s fighting Adams and freshman Mark Hyan for the starting spot. They all split time in the preseason scrimmage against UNC Greensboro, and it could be a similar situation in Tuesday night’s exhibition vs. West Virginia (5 p.m. ET), a team that made last year’s College Cup. Brizendine said he’s not sure who’s going to win the job.
Things are more set in stone on the back line, where Uwimana and Cardona return at left and right back, respectively. Fifth-year senior Trey Gardiner, a center-back transfer from Davidson, will be sandwiched in the middle alongside Icelandic freshman Floki Stephensen.
“They came back and they are playing at different levels,” Brizendine said of Uwimana and Cardona. “Willie has been arguably our best player for a while now, just because he’s consistent. Every game, Mr. Consistent. Every practice, Mr. Consistent. Noe as well. He’s explosive, he has big ambition. … They’re playing at the level of pushing towards what their goal is, of becoming a pro.”
Virginia Tech has a slew of options in the midfield, an area anchored by Hensley, who has played all over in his career. The North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in high school, he’s back in his preferred spot, where he’ll have more of a box-to-box role.
“I get up and down, I bring a lot of vocal leadership, like when we press, how we get back into our block, just organizational stuff that I understand a lot,” Hensley said. “Hopefully this year I can add goals and assists as I push forward a little more, not sitting in the hole playing the six.”
He’s surrounded by plenty of talent. Junior Mathias Yohannes transferred from Kentucky while the Hokies added sophomore Yonis Kireh from Marseille, France. Freshmen Alex Perez — a product of the Philadelphia Union system that’s had quite the Tech pipeline in recent years in Nick Blacklock, Danny Flores, Ben Martino and Uwimana — and Tino Vasquez could both play roles, too.
Up top is where things get interesting. The Hokies return their top scorer in Oliver Roche, who notched four goals as a freshman — three of which came in the first six games of 2023. Quill will be a go-to guy on the wing, while sophomore Marcos Escoe, junior Andy Sullins and junior CJ Coppola (Saint Louis transfer) could all play roles. Everyone’s excited about Malick Thiaw, too, another Frenchman from Marseille.
The bottom line, though, is Tech needs to find a way to score. In its six-year NCAA Tournament run, it had guys who could convert. Marcelo Acuna and Kristo Strickler each had two double-digit goalscoring campaigns, and Jacob Labovitz bagged nine goals in back-to-back seasons.
If the team wants to make a postseason trip this year, who’s going to step up and become that guy? There are plenty of options from what Brizendine described as a “different level-type group.”
“When you look at teams that are successful, they have a guy — a double-digit guy,” Brizendine said. “[We have] a couple candidates that could be double-digit guys for us. I need one of them to rise to the top and do it.”
Virginia Tech will try to start strong when it opens the season vs. North Florida on Thursday, Aug. 22, at Thompson Field in Blacksburg. It’s the first time the Hokies have started their campaign at home since 2015.
“All of the guys believe,” Hensley said. “… We’ve been in the games we played — we took the team that won the national championship to three seconds last year, right? Belief isn’t an issue for me, and if we just stay committed and stay disciplined, we’re going to be fine and we’re going to have a great year.”
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