sweet 16 eludes virginia tech

By Kolbjorn Bergstrom

Staff Writer

November 21, 2021

MORGANTOWN, WV. — During the first five minutes both sides were playing well. There was a balance in offensive play and just missed opportunities, but that would not last much longer.

A deflected cross in from the left side of the pitch ended up on the foot of forward Ike Swiger around the six yard line. After receiving the ball, he turned inside (beating a defender), took a touch, and buried his shot in the upper netting. Just like that, the even play turned into a shock 1-0 lead for West Virginia, and they were not content with just one.

Just a few days prior, Virginia Tech (11-5-4) won in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, beating Campbell (15-4-2) 2-1 at Thompson field. This match would not be any easier, as instead of being at home, Virginia Tech would take a trip north to visit No. 11 West Virginia (11-3-5) in Morgantown, where it was undefeated (8-0-3). The degree of difficulty that came with this match only escalated when Swiger gave his side the early lead, and it did not get any better for the Hokies.

Following the early goal, the Mountaineers took control of the match, drawing a lot of aggression out of the Hokies and sending in numerous dangerous crosses. In fact, the lethality of the home side’s set pieces and crosses was a common thread of the match.

Though West Virginia took control of the match, outside of an opportunity missed by senior Tony Pineda, Virginia Tech worked itself right back into the match. At the end of the half, Virginia Tech had created more shots than West Virginia but nothing to show for it, with 45 minutes left to change that.

The second half started the same as the first ended, with both sides getting a solid portion of possession. Despite this, Virginia Tech was given a golden opportunity ten minutes into the half.

After a poor pass from the midfield landed on senior Jacob Labovitz’s feet, he was off. He had a defender on him the whole way, but it did not matter, he was a man on a mission as he charged into the 18 yard box.

Once inside, he took one more touch, then ripped the ball with his left foot into the right side of the goal, adding another moment to his tournament resume. This was the 9th goal of the season for Labovitz, tying the total he scored last season. It was also last season when Labovitz contributed two goals and assists to the Hokies during the NCAA tournament.

The equalizing goal would mark one of three shots Coach Mike Brizendine’s side would see, as West Virginia peppered shots at his side for the rest of the half. Unfortunately for Coach Dan Stratford, the eight shots his side would see would either go high or wide, with two opportunities coming dangerously close.

One of those chances came in the 68 minute, almost twelve after Labovitz scored, as sophomore Ryan Crooks put a 1-on-1 opportunity against freshman Ben Martino wide of the net. The other would come from a free kick late in the half that rang off the crossbar.

With no goal to be found, the 90 minutes of regulation were up, and the sides were heading into overtime. Both Virginia Tech and West Virginia had its fair share of overtime games, with this being the away sides eighth (3-1-4) and the home sides sixth (0-1-5).

“We are accustomed to it [overtime] and we know what it takes,” Brizendine stated, continuing with, “... and overtime has been good to us this year, so we weren’t afraid of it.”

During the first period of overtime, Virginia Tech had full control. Unfortunately for the away side, that did not result in enough shots, as both sides only had one shot during the first ten minute period, with no game-winner to be found.

Comparatively to the first ten minute period, the second was off the walls excitement. Both sides had an incredible opportunity, starting with Virginia Tech.

Just prior to the halfway point of the second overtime period, a perfect cross was sent in from Virginia Tech. The header fell to graduate transfer Pol Monells, which went straight to goalkeeper Steven Tekesky, the second shot of the period for Monells.

West Virginia’s opportunity came with only seconds remaining. The ball was in the air, and Crooks looked for a bicycle kick. Though it felt like destiny he would redeem his earlier mistake and score this wonder goal, Martino palmed the shot away, with a penalty shootout to come.

This was a very familiar scene for the Hokies, as last year they fell in a penalty shootout to Seton Hall. Though the energy felt different this time around, penalty shootouts are all the same, who will overthink their opportunity, the goalkeeper or the shooter.

“... Look, pks are difficult. Play a hard fought match and then it comes up to that. It’s a difficult way of going out of a game,” Brizendine commented, adding to his statement that, “I wish they would’ve thrown some more time up and we could’ve just kept battling it out til one of us won.”

After four well taken penalties, both sides completed their shots, with a 2-2 tally falling onto the capable boot of Labovitz. He stepped up, took the shot, and it was saved by Tekesky. This was the moment that marked the downfall of the penalty shootout for the Hokies.

Though this miss was ultimately traded back by defender Bjarne Thiesen, who sent his chance way high, two more blows were dealt to the Hokies. The first was an excellent save by Tekesky on junior Daniel Starr’s shot.

Immediately following that, Martino had another shot come to his hands, but again was not able to save it. That marked a one penalty deficit for the Hokies, which they could not surmount, as the Mountaineers would win the 1-1 match with a 4-3 penalty decision.

Following the home win, No. 11 West Virginia will take a trip of its own, as it will take on No. 6 Tulsa in the Sweet 16. Unfortunately for Virginia Tech, this will be the end of its season, also marking the end of a three year streak of making the Sweet 16.

For a lot of that Virginia Tech side, that was the last match of their collegiate career, including the likes of leading scorer Labovitz, assist leader Kyle McDowell, and captain Sivert Haugli. When looking into the future, the upcoming classes will have big shoes to fill.

“The guys that are here already know what the standard is, and they’ve gotten a taste of that,” Brizendine said, putting the onus on himself and the staff about the upcoming recruits, stating, “it’s our job to recruit the right kids, that are willing to put in the work and the grind and know the challenges that they’ll face, they can’t be intimidated by playing… one of the toughest schedules in the country… they accept that challenge and look forward to it.”