Virginia Tech Starts Out 2021 at coastal Carolina

Patrick Campbell, Ishan Lamba and Kolbjorn Bergstrom

February 28, 2021

CONWAY, S.C. — Virginia Tech starts out the 2021 season on the road to face Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Chanticleers finished the 2020 fall season ranked fifth in the country.

Sunday will only be the third matchup between the two teams with the Hokies coming out on top 2-0 at Brooks Stadium in 2004. The match will be the only non-conference match of the season for Tech and its first since Aug. 30, 2019 against Loyola Marymount.

The Chanticleers finished the 2020 season at 6-1-1, including a penalty kick victory over Georgia State to win the Sun Belt Championship.

Defender Marcelo Lage scored a team high five goals on 11 shots which earned him a team high 45.5% shooting percentage. Lage’s five goals were tied for sixth in the country this past fall.

Midfielder Marcelo Jones played and started in all eight games for Carolina and tallied five assists, good for third in the country.

Tech will need to take advantage of every opportunity because the Chanticleers have one of the best goalkeepers in the country. Six-foot-five senior Tor Saunders earned a whopping 31 saves last season, which tied for second most in the nation. Saunders boasts five shutouts, which was tied for the best in all of collegiate soccer in the fall.

Virginia Tech will need to replace the No. 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft, Daniel Pereira, in 2021.

The Hokies have two seniors who are poised for a strong spring campaign. Forward Jacob Labovitz and Midfielder Kristo Strickler tied for a team high three goals last season.

Labovtiz was third in the country last season collecting two game-winning goals for the Hokies. Strickler started off the previous season's opener hot with three shots on goal producing both of Tech’s goals in a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh. The two seniors contributed 46 out of the 127 shots for the Hokies last season.

Tech concluded last season at 3-2-2 finishing second in the north region with 10 points. The Hokies fall season came to an end with a 4-1 loss in the first round of the ACC Tournament to Clemson.

Sunday will be the second consecutive top five matchup to open the season for Virginia Tech. The Hokies currently have two more top five matchups looming over the course of this season.