virginia tech gets back in the win column against radford

Topher Wagner

March 24, 2021

BLACKSBURG — Following a four game losing stretch that saw Virginia Tech drop from the top 25 rankings, it needed a statement win to get its season back on track with Radford coming to town.

Boy, did they get it.

In a battle of rivals separated by just over 13 miles of highway interstate, the Hokies eviscerated the Highlanders on Tuesday afternoon, 19-5. Propelled by a scoring run that saw Tech pocket 14 straight goals spanning both halves, Jon Sung’s squad got a dominant victory right when they needed it most.

Coming into this contest, the Hokies were in free fall, losing their last four games including three in a row since returning from their COVID pause. Fortunately for Tech, a match with winless Radford appeared to be just what the doctor ordered in ending its losing streak.

Like many games this season, VT started fast, putting away their first two shots of the game to take an early 2-0 lead. The Hokies were dominant in the offensive zone, as several prolonged possessions in Radford’s territory appeared to give Tech complete control to start the game.

However, as the Hokies began to settle in on offense, the Highlanders rallied back strong. After nearly nine minutes of shutout defense, Tech began to unravel. Several quick fouls on Virginia Tech led to an offensive tear from Radford that saw it score four straight goals including two from Ava Goeller.

Right when it seemed that yet another game was going to get away from the Hokies, Sung called a timeout to settle down his group. Coming out of the break, Tech played with a newfound energy as it capitalized on two free position goals by Caroline Allen and Emma Crooks to tie things up at four. Crooks had a stellar game, finishing with four goals for the Hokies.

Two minutes later, off of a feed from Sarah Lubnow, Hokies’ star Paige Petty put away her 17th goal of the year to take a 5-4 lead. This historic goal put Petty at 200 career points, most by any player in Virginia Tech history. But the senior was far from done.

Following this tie breaking goal, the floodgates opened for Virginia Tech. Led by Petty’s first half hat-trick, the Hokies scored five more goals to end the half up 10-4 with an 8-0 goal run in the final 15 minutes of the frame. A smothering Tech defense did no favors for Radford as countless turnovers led to this flurry of opportunities for the Hokies.

Unfortunately for the Highlanders, VT showed no signs of slowing down to start the second half. Numerous fouls in the Radford zone led to sustained offensive control for the Hokies as they continued to pile it on. Petty scored two more goals to bring her game total to five and season tally up to 21.

Finally, after nearly 29 straight game minutes of scoreless play, Radford finally broke the Hokies’ 14-0 goal run on a snipe from Goeller to make it a 16-5 game. Goeller was one of the few bright spots for Radford, putting up a hat-trick despite the Highlanders scoring just five goals as a team.

Reilly Reed capped off the Hokies’ strong offensive day with a man up goal with two minutes left to make it a 14 goal blowout win for VT.

While Virginia Tech’s offense was outstanding, its defense deserves just as much credit. The Hokies held Radford to eight shots all game including just two in the second half, outshooting them on the night by 33.

The blowout loss drops Radford to a woeful 0-9 on the season, as it has now been four straight games where the Highlanders failed to crack double digit goals. They’ll look to rebound on Sunday in a matchup with William & Mary.

For Virginia Tech, it snaps its four-game losing streak to improve to 3-5 on the year going into the remainder of its conference schedule. The Hokies will try to steal their first ACC game of the year Saturday afternoon in a trip to Syracuse to take on the No. 2 ranked Orange.