Virginia Tech can’t handle late first half surge by Radford, fall 3-2

By Conner Hart

Staff Writer

October 25, 2023

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech couldn’t hold on to an early two goal lead against Radford in a 3-2 loss Tuesday night. The Highlanders (3-10-2) were able to rally with three goals in 13 minutes to close the first half against the Hokies (4-7-4) and then shutout VT in the final 45 minutes.

Virginia Tech forward Conor Pugh and midfielder Marco Vesterholm had the Hokies’ offense buzzing early with Marco scoring the quickest goal of the Hokies’ season just two minutes and 15 seconds into the match on an assist from Pugh.

The previous mark had been seven minutes into the game against High Point on Sept. 26 — Tech’s last home win.

Vesterholm then returned the favor, assisting Pugh on a header at the 20-minute mark to put Virginia Tech up 2-0 early. Pugh leads the Hokies with nine goals this season.

Radford seemingly was backed into a corner, but rather than shrink away from the challenge, the Highlanders rose to the occasion.

“I think we just sorta woke up a little bit,” Radford head coach Chris Barrett said. “I think we just kept the belief…we’ve had games where we’ve sorta wilted after two goals, so I’m really, really proud of our reaction.”

Radford defender Owen Clark got the scoring going for Radford, followed by goals from forward Jared DuBose and midfielder Mateo Perez Nance, respectively. When it was all said and done, Radford turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead within 13 minutes of game time. 

The goal by Perez Nance was the highlight of the night for Radford. The Highlanders forced Virginia Tech goalkeeper Connor Jordan-Hyde to shade to the left of the goal before Nance’s free kick, where he perfectly hit the top right corner of the back net off his left foot. 

The energy shifted immediately on the field, signaling potential warning signs of Tech’s first loss to Radford since 2000.

“We played with heart and guts tonight,” Barrett said. “Soccer comes and goes throughout games really quickly and [Virginia Tech] is really, really good, but the last few games we’ve just found that inner determination and work ethic… that was what the difference was tonight.”

In the second half of the game, Radford clung on for dear life, surviving seven shots and eight corner kicks from Virginia Tech’s offense as the Highlanders moved to a more conservative defense.

“Going into halftime we knew there was going to be a barrage coming at us, so we needed to make sure we stayed compact on offense and stay completely organized,” Barrett said.

Like much of the season, Virginia Tech was unable to capitalize on its opportunities, and looked much more out-of-sync of offense due to the physicality of Radford’s defense. Despite receiving a total of seven yellow cards on the night, not a single Radford player was ejected from the game.

The Hokies now look for answers heading into their final regular season game against a strong Duke team (8-3-2) before they head to the ACC Tournament.