The Virginia Tech Women's Soccer team played their second game of the season today at home against nationally ranked Georgetown, but were only able to come away with a 1-1 draw against the 22nd ranked Hoyas in double overtime.
Georgetown scored early thanks to a goal off a corner from senior forward Caitlin Farrell. The goal occurred with 25 minutes to play in the first half;.
From that moment on, the Hokies turned it on and pressed the attack, resulting in a Tech goal with 7:13 to play in the first half. Freshman forward Karlie Johnson received a perfect through ball from junior midfielder Mikayla Mance and slipped the shot right by the goalkeeper to even the score.
Virginia Tech played somewhat timid in the first half, playing very safe and not taking many chances.
Head coach Chugger Adair said, "[In the second half] I thought we were doing better at making decisions going forward from the midfield third to the attacking third and we really looked to getting our numbers forward; we weren't as conservative, the girls played with more tenacity and more of a commitment to getting forward."
The Hokies had just two shots in the first half compared to five from the Hoyas, but they stepped it up in the second half and recorded seven shots.
The Hokies finished with 14 shots on the night, 5 of which were in overtime. Georgetown finished with 9 shots, only one of which was in overtime. Coach Adair said he was a little worried about the game today after their match on Friday night but the girls came in and rose to the occasion.
Rotating players and the depth of the Hokies was a huge help to their success in their first two matches, said Coach Adair. "We used 18 players the other night, 16 players tonight and the girls did a wonderful job of fighting through that and really setting the tone, trying to be the aggressor through overtime. The game could've gone either way but Mandy [McGlynn] and the defense played well and we created chances going forward."
This was the 7th match in history between the two schools, the first since 2015. Virginia Tech was on a three game win streak in the series; the record now stands at 3-3-1 for the Hokies. A tie against the reigning Big East Champions and the preseason favorite to win the conference bodes well for the Hokies and shows the potential of this team.
With 13 freshman on the roster, Adair and the rest of the coaching staff needed time to figure out where the players fit in their system. "I think we found out where most of our kids are; we started 4 to 5 freshman on Friday night and a couple today, so trying to figure out where those freshman are, as well as some of the returners are at this point in the season, is important for us," Coach Adair said.
Mandy McGlynn, the Preseason All-ACC pick, did not train with the team this summer due to her training and competing with the United States Under-20 Women's National Team, but Adair said he was very happy to have her back training with the team. She started in four matches as the team advanced to the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in France. McGlynn has been the starting goalkeeper the past two seasons for the Hokies, having made 34 career starts and 18 career wins, along with 12 career shutouts, coming into the season.
Coach Adair said he would like to work on converting more chances; "if you look at it, we created a number of opportunities that we just have to start sticking away but if you look at it, it's a good thing we are creating chances." The Hokies have recorded 33 shots in two games.
The Hokies are now 0-0-2 after the first two opening matches of the season. Tech finished 7-6-5 last season overall, 1-5-3 in the ACC, so a better start gives fans a reason to be optimistic. Virginia Tech has two more home games next weekend; The Hokies host UNC Wilmington on Friday and High Point on Sunday. These two games fall before a three-game road trip to Alabama, Georgia, and Villanova over the next two weeks.
Photo Credit: Virginia Tech Athletics
Stay up with The Tech Lunch Pail for the latest on Virginia Tech. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Subscribe to our email updates.
You must login in order to comment on this post.
