It was a brisk Thursday night in Blacksburg. The stands of Thompson Field were filled to the brim, and getting louder, cheering on the hometown Virginia Tech Hokies, as they trailed by two goals to No. 13 Virginia. It was the women's soccer edition of the 2022 Smithfield Commonwealth Clash.
With 15 minutes remaining in the match, it was not looking good for the Hokies, who were down, 3-1. Then, head coach Chugger Adair, in need of an offensive spark, put his top two goal contributors in, Tori Powell and Taylor Price.
And they did exactly what they were supposed to.
With ten minutes remaining, Powell delivered a soft pass inside the box to junior forward Taylor Bryan, who cut the deficit to one as her shot was deflected into the left side of the net.
But Bryan would not stop there. In the 89th minute, with hope of a comeback fading, Bryan slid across the Virginia box, managing to get her foot on the ball, and just as anyone expected, tied the game at three apiece.
“I definitely think those two [goals] will be very significant [when my career is over],” said Bryan. “But I feel like we definitely could have put that game away off the first goal.”
With the draw, Tech moves to 9-4-2, while the Cavaliers stand at 10-2-3. But, should this game have been a draw?
The obvious answer is no. The Hokies took an early lead in the first half, when star freshman Taylor Price headed in a goal. They took this lead into halftime, but early on in the second half, Virginia struck gold, managing to score two goals in 13 seconds, and three in ten minutes.
When asked about the defensive breakdown early on in the second half, Adair said, “I think it was just unfortunate for that to occur so quickly.”
“13 seconds it’s difficult, I was frustrated giving up the first goal to be honest, we’ve just got to be a little bit sharper.”
With the tie, the two commonwealth teams are now neck and neck in ACC standings, with UVA sitting in the sixth slot (11 points), and Tech slotting in at seventh (10 points).
However, with the season winding down, the Hokies are fighting for a spot in the ACC tournament with their in-state rivals, as the top six ACC teams make the tournament (which will be hosted at WakeMed park in Cary, North Carolina Nov. 3-6).
Tech will play host to No. 6 Notre Dame this Thursday in a game that could make or break the Hokies season.
