Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – Junior Brendan Dunn scored his second goal of the season to lift the Hokies (5-7-1) past UMBC (5-5-2) in an overtime contest at Sandra D. Thompson Soccer Field. Tech has now won three straight non-conference matches this season. Junior James Gilson scored a goal and tallied an assist in the match.
“It was a fun and an exciting match,” said head coach Oliver Weiss. “I give the team a lot of credit. We were down 1-0 and we fought hard and created chances. We have had a lot of hurdles to jump this season and maybe we still have a little fight left.”
In the first half the Hokies registered eight shots with its best scoring chance coming in the 33rd minute of play. Gilson possessed the ball on the right side of the pitch for Tech and crossed a ball inside the UMBC box. Teammate, Dunn sprinted through the middle and got his head on the ball, but the ball carried over the top post and kept the Hokies off the scoreboard.
Freshman goalkeeper Thomas St.Germain had four saves, while UMBC tallied 11 shots in the period, with four coming off the foot of freshman Andrew Bulls. Between the pipes for the Retrievers, senior Steve King posted four saves as well.
The two teams each notched a goal in the second half. UMBC scored its goal in the 67th minute of play. The Retrievers were awarded a corner kick and sent the ball back to senior L.J. Pijenburg who fired a shot at the Hokie net. UMBC freshman Andrew Bulls flicked the ball toward the net to beat St. Germain to give the Retrievers a 1-0 advantage.
Tech came back in the 77th minute to tie the game 1-1. Gilson and the Hokies were awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box. Gilson stepped to the ball and fired a shot that was saved by UMBC’s King. The junior followed his shot and knocked in the equalizer to keep the Hokies alive.
At the end of regulation the teams where tied 1-1. The Hokies had 18 shots and took two corner kicks, while the opposition ripped 21 shots and had seven corner kicks.
As soon as the ball dropped in the overtime period the Hokies came out firing. Tech out-shot their counterpart 2-1 in the period. The final shot of the match came off the head of Dunn. Gilson took the ball on left side of the pitch and crossed the ball to his classmate. Dunn finished the job for the Hokies, scoring in the 92nd minute to give Tech its fifth win this season.
In the net, St. Germain made seven saves for Tech and captured his second win, while King stopped 12 Hokie shots in the match.
Tech will get back into conference play when they take on No.10 North Carolina in an ACC battle at Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday, Oct. 18. The start time for the match is 7:00 p.m.