The No. 7 seed Virginia Tech Hokies (14-5-3) continued their Cinderella story as they knocked off the No. 3 seed Iowa Hawkeyes 1-0 in the round of 16 to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in program history.
“Our ladies did a great job,” Adair said after knocking off Iowa. “They came to play and grinded it out. 90 minutes of tough soccer against a good Iowa team, so I am proud of the group. I am proud of the way they committed themselves to the game plan and the way they stuck with it.”
The Hokies’ (14-5-3) magical regular season—during which they knocked off defending national champions No. 6 Florida State and No. 7 Notre Dame—has continued into the postseason, and head coach Chugger Adair has led the Hokies to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2013.
VT midfielder Natalie Mitchell was responsible for punching the Hokies' ticket to the second and third rounds after her second-half goals sent Tech past the Tennessee Lady Vols (9-7-4) and the No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins (17-4-3), allowed the Hokies to face the Hawkeyes in the Sweet Sixteen.
“There have been a lot of chances this year for me that just haven't rolled the right way, and to finally get one in a game that really meant something was like, okay, it was coming this whole time,” Mitchell said after netting the game-winner in the 51st minute against Tennessee.
Mitchell has nearly doubled her goal-scoring production in the last three games after only scoring three goals the entire regular season. The Junior playmaker stepped up once again in the Hokies underdog matchup against the Bruins.
Just two minutes after UCLA netted an own goal in the 51st minute to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead, Mitchell rallied off Tech’s momentum and notched her fifth goal of the season in the 53rd minute to provide Tech with a 2-0 lead over the Bruins.
UCLA’s Ayo Oke would knock back a goal of her own in the 60th minute to bring the Hokies' lead within one. However, Mitchell’s second-half score once again proved to be the difference maker, and it helped the Hokies advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2018, where they would face the Hawkeyes (13-2-4).
Mitchell once again seemed to be the difference-maker against Iowa. She recorded a game-high six shots, just three less than the entire Hawkeyes team combined, yet she was unable to find the back of the net. However, Tech defender Allie George picked up the slack. With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, she skied a shot over Hawkeyes goalie Macy Enneking and into the back of the net to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead in what may have been the goal of the year for the Hokies.
ALLIE GEORGE. OUT OF THIS WORLD. pic.twitter.com/1iSGPbEDHm
— Virginia Tech Women's Soccer (@HokiesWSoccer) November 25, 2024
This was George’s fourth goal of the season, but her first since the middle of September when she netted the game-winner in the Hokies’ 1-0 victory over the Syracuse Orange.
Tech has relied on its second-half goal production the entire season, including in its regular-season win over the Seminoles. The Hokies scored three goals in the final ten minutes of play to earn their first win over FSU in program history.
As part of the ACC, the Hokies had a tougher path than most. They had to face nationally ranked opponents in the conference and play in what is arguably the toughest conference tournament in the NCAA.
Tech seemed to have lost momentum after falling short to UVa 1-0 in the final game of its regular season and failing to advance past the first round in the ACC Tournament due to a 2-0 loss to North Carolina. However, the Hokies never counted themselves out and have continued their magical run. They are now one of eight teams remaining, being only one win away from their second College Cup appearance in program history.
Of those eight remaining teams, six are from the ACC—No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 2 North Carolina, No. 3 Stanford, and No. 4 Notre Dame—once again showing the dominance of the Atlantic Coast Conference in women’s soccer.
The Hokies are the lowest-ranked seed remaining in the tournament (7). However, that has yet to stop them from knocking off the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in their bracket, proving that the seven before their name is just a number.
Tech is set to take on the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday, November 30th, at 6:00 p.m. EST in Durham to advance to the College Cup in Cary, NC where the winner will face the winner of USC vs Wake Forest.
The Hokies have yet to see the Blue Devils this season, who were the regular-season ACC Champions (9-0-1). They will play a part in the second ACC matchup in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, with Notre Dame and Stanford facing off in the other all ACC matchup.
Completing the flip side of the bracket, the North Carolina Tar Heels face the No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions. If UNC can knock off Penn State and Wake Forest can handle the top-seeded Trojans, then it will be certain that an ACC team will be crowned champions of the College Cup
Who will come out victorious? Will the Hokies make history with their first national championship for women's soccer and the first national championship for any team sport in the school's history? All they need to make that answer yes is to win three more games, all of which are just a few hours from Blacksburg.
