hokies continue dominance at home with 1-0 win over tribe

Ishan Lamba

Soccer Beat Writer

August 23, 2021

BLACKSBURG — Fifty scoreless minutes had passed when a Virginia Tech corner kick sailed a few feet in front of the goal. It was a set play as defender Ava Veith raised her right hand to signal to Tori Powell, who started it a few feet outside of the box, to dart towards the goal.

The play went as planned. The Hokies’ forward headed the ball, deflecting it towards the back of the net, sneaking it a few inches over the white line before a William & Mary defender kicked it out of play.

A few seconds of confusion ensued before the head referee ruled that Powell had scored. Her teammates mobbed her before running over to swarm Veith. It was Powell’s second goal of the season. And this one became the eventual game-winner.

And with the sun beating down on Thompson Field Sunday afternoon, the Hokies (2-0) capped the “Welcome Back to Blacksburg” themed-game with a tight 1-0 victory over in-state foe William & Mary (1-1). Like it did in a 3-0 win against Liberty on Thursday, Tech used its aggressive play-style, paired with the usual core of forward Nicole Kozlova, midfielder Emily Gray and Powell, which generated an abundance of chances.

The offensive opportunities came often and early for VT. Through the first 20 minutes, Virginia Tech had six shots on net, along with multiple foiled chances near the net by William & Mary’s Grace Lemley and the rest of her defense.

The best opportunity of the half came in the 25^th minute when Victoria Haugen booted the ball from the defensive half to the foot of Kozlova, who shook off two defenders with some exceptional dribbling before ultimately putting the shot just over the crossbar.

But quickly, the opportunities dried up for the Hokies. They had issues finishing their possessions off and penetrating the Tribe defense, frustrating the team going into the half.

“They had great pressure, but we did expect that,” Powell said after the game. “I think it was just the cleanliness. The final touch, final pass, final shot, which we’re now going to work on.”

Despite all the chances Virginia Tech had during the first half, the teams headed to the locker rooms scoreless.

Coming out of the break, the Hokies looked to deliver on their chances, and it didn’t take long.

Five minutes into the half, Veith’s corner kick and Powell’s redirected header found the goal, giving the Hokies the lead, and eventually, the win.

“Set pieces, as a team, [are] one of our goals to really improve on,” Veith said. “We really work on finding our target players like Tori and our other taller players to get good chances.”

Powell has become the life of the Hokies’ offense since she joined the team as a freshman in 2020. Coming into the game, Virginia Tech was 8-0 when Powell recorded at least one point. And on Sunday, Tech improved to 9-0.

But after Powell’s goal, Lemley and the William & Mary back line continued to foil more of Virginia Tech’s chances. Two minutes after misplaying Powell’s score, she made a tremendous body save on Powell to keep the Hokies from doubling their lead.

Ten minutes later, Gray managed to dribble through most of the Tribe defense before defender Riley Friesen cut off her shot.

The remainder of the second half followed a similar script as the first. Tech’s aggression cooled off and it had to brave a final push by the Tribe to preserve its clean sheet — the second in as many games — which is an important goal for the team.

“Our team is really focusing on clean sheets this year and our defensive shape,” goalie Alia Skinner said, following her fifth-career clean sheet. “It’s important to defend our house and we don’t wanna let up any goals because, usually when you don’t let up goals, it creates chances on the opposite for us to score because the momentum shifts. That’s the most important thing.”

Although the Hokies did well statistically for the most part, amassing 11 corner kicks and outshooting the Tribe 14-9, head coach Chugger Adair identified that the team needing to finish its offensive chances is a main priority.

“We’re still in the early phases of the year, we’ll continue to grow and build.” Adair said. “Finishing is sometimes the last thing we get to, so we gotta spend a little more time with that.”

He’s reminded that his team is still on the younger side and remains optimistic about his team’s potential once ACC play begins in a few weeks.

“I’d be worried if we weren’t [creating opportunities] but that we are, I’m happy with that,” Adair continued. “This is a good side, much improved from last year. They were hungry for a result tonight and they did a good job, so I’m pleased with our team.”