Hokie ClubVirginia Tech (4-5-1, 0-3-1 ACC) vs. NJIT (7-5-0)
Oct. 5 • 7:00 p.m.
Thompson Field • Blacksburg, Va.
Live Stats: http://hokiesports.com/msoccer/live
SCOUTING NJIT
• NJIT is coming off of a 1-0 road victory on Sept. 26 against George Washington. In a game that the Highlanders controlled from the start, outshooting the Colonials 15-3, and keeping the home team from recording a shot on goal, freshman Enrique Hildago tallied his second goal of the season in the 83rd minute.
• Senior Franco Gamero leads NJIT in both goals (5) and points (12). He tallied his second assist of the season on Hidalgo’s game-winner against GW. Hildago, Marko Drljic, Cristian Marcel, Christian Galindo and Jimmy Myers each have two goals a piece.
• Drljic leads the team in both assists (4) and shots (34).
• The Highlanders have one five of their last six matches.
• NJIT is 3-2 away from Newark, N.J. this season.
SERIES HISTORY
• NJIT won last year’s contest 2-1 at Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium in Newark. It was the first time in program history that the two sides have met.
• The Highlanders took an early 1-0 lead in the fourth minute behind a goal from Luis Granizo. Robert Alberti leveled the game in the 29th minute on a penalty kick, but Franco Gamero netted the eventual game-winner 11 seconds later.
HOKIES IN YOUR HOME
For fans looking to catch a game live, but can’t attend, nine Hokie matches will broadcast live either online or on TV throughout the 2012 season.
• Hokies All-Access (http://www.hokiesports.com/allaccess)
• Aug. 26 vs. Richmond, 2:30 p.m.
• Sept. 14 vs. Boston College, 7:00 p.m.
• Sept. 28 vs. Wake Forest, 7:00 p.m.
• Oct 23 vs. Radford, 7:00 p.m.
• ESPN3
• Sept. 8 at North Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
• Now. 1 at Clemson, 7:00 p.m.
• ACCDN on YouTube
• Sept. 21 at Maryland, 7:30 p.m.
• Oct. 12 vs. NC State, 7:00 p.m.
• RSN
• Oct. 19 at Virginia, 6:30 p.m.
JUST GIVE THEM THE LEAD
• In all four Hokies wins this season, they’ve scored first.
• Three of the four games resulted in shutouts.
HOKIE WALL
• Goalkeeper Kyle Renfro is right where he left off last year. After leading the ACC with 100 saves in 2011, the junior currently leads the conference in saves (51) and saves per game (5.10).
• His nine saves in a 1-1 draw versus Boston College on Sept. 14 tied his career high which was set on Sept. 10, 2011 in a 1-0 double-overtime win over No. 1 North Carolina.
• The nine saves is game-high amongst ACC keepers this season.
• At No. 1 Maryland on Sept. 21, Renfro was one save shy of his high, recording eight stops against a relentless Terrapin attack.
• His seven career shutouts is three away from cracking the school’s top five.
HOLDING OPPONENTS IN CHECK
• Despite allowing 159 shots through eight games, Tech’s defense has allowed 16 shots to find the back of the net.
• Opponents have tallied 13 or more shots against Tech in eight of the team’s 10 matches.
• Against one of the country’s most potent attacks, the Hokies held No. 1 Maryland to two goals on Sept. 21. To that point, it marked only the second time that Maryland had been held to less than three goals.
OFFENSIVE HOKIES
• Six Hokies have combined for the teams 11 goals.
• David Clemens and Daniel Lauretano are the only Hokies to record more than one goal. Clemens leads the team with five which is tied for second in the ACC, while his 10 points is tied for sixth-most in the league.
• Lauretano tallied his first collegiate goal in the season opener against SIU-Edwardsville. Two days later, Clemens earned his first of the season in a 1-0 win over Richmond to give Tech its first victory of the season.
• Jed Prater notched his first goal of the season, and third of his career, after converting a penalty kick in a 1-0 game versus Temple.
• Drew Hartell and Connor Pompilio tallied their first goals of the season and first of their careers on Sept. 2 versus St. Bonaventure as Clemens and Lauretano scored their second goals of the year in the 4-0 victory.
• The last time Tech defeated a team by four goals or more was nearly two years ago in a 7-2 win over Howard on Sept. 14, 2010.
• After coming in as a substitute in the first game, Lauretano recorded his first goal as a Hokie against SIU-Edwardsville. Three starts later, the freshmen tallied his second goal on the year.
• Six games into his final season, midfielder David Fiorello tallied the first goal of his career in dramatic fashion with a 35-yard high-arching shot that looped over the BC keeper Justin Luthy for a game-tying goal in the 83rd minute while playing his team was playing a man down.
• On Sept. 25 against VMI, David Clemens had a breakout game, notching his first-career hat trick in a 3-1 win. He is only the third ACC player to record a hat trick this season.
• His seven shots versus VMI and St. Bonaventure tied his career high for a single game. It is the third time in his career that he has recorded seven shots and it the most shots in a game for any ACC player this season.
MULTIPLE #1’s
• For the second-straight season, Tech faced multiple top-ranked opponents.
• Last year, the Hokies upset North Carolina 1-0 in double overtime before falling to Maryland two weeks later, 2-0. Both matches were played at Thompson Field.
• This season, Tech hit the road for both matches as the squad fell 2-0 to North Carolina and Maryland.
WHO NEEDS TO PLAY AT FULL STRENGTH
• The Hokies had a gutsy performance in a 1-1 draw against Boston College on Sept. 14. After going down a goal in the 46th minute, Tech was forced to play down a man after a red card was issued to DeVante DuBose. The Hokies fought back to tie the game on an 83rd minute goal by captain David Fiorello.
• After going down a man, Tech equaled its first half shot total of three during the final 40 minutes of regulation before adding another three during the 20 minutes of extra time.
• During the final 60 minutes of play, Boston College took 10 shots, two less than the first 50 minutes.
MINUTE MEN
• David Clemens, David Fiorello, Jed Prater, Drew Ranahan, Kyle Renfro and Ben Strong have each eclipsed the 800-minute mark this season for the Hokies through 10 games. Fiorello, Prater and Renfro have each eclipsed 900 minutes.
• Fiorello leads the team, playing every minute thus far.
• Prater, Ranahan, Renfro and Strong led Tech in minutes logged a season ago. The four amassed 6,969 minutes in 19 games.
LEARNING ON THE FLY
• Tech has 16 players this season who have been in the program for less than two years. With David Fiorello being the lone senior on the 2012 squad, and only seven upperclassmen in all.
• Seven underclassmen have logged more than 300 minutes this season.
• Redshirt sophomore Drew Ranahan leads all underclassmen with 888 minutes played while Daniel Lauretano leads all freshmen with 633 minutes.
ACC TEST
• The Hokies finished off a grueling conference test on Sept. 28 in which the team took on four of the top teams in the ACC according to the NSCAA rankings.
• Tech opened the ACC season with 2-0 defeat at No. 1 North Carolina on Sept. 8. The Hokies followed that up with a 1-1 double overtime draw against Boston College at Thompson Field on Sept. 14. The Eagles were receiving votes at the time after opening the season ranked No. 14.
• On Sept. 21, the Hokies fell 2-0 to No. 1 Maryland. A week later, Tech was defeated 4-0 at home by No. 16 Wake Forest.
AMONG THE BEST
• The Atlantic Coast Conference has traditionally been one of the nation’s top conferences in men’s soccer and this year is no different. Currently three schools (North Carolina, Maryland and Wake Forest) are ranked in the NSCAA’s top 15, which is the second-most of any conference behind the BIG EAST.
• The league began the season with three teams ranked in the NSCAA’s top 25 preseason poll which was second behind the BIG EAST’s four.
445:02
• The Hokies kept their opposition from finding the net for a total of 445:02 minutes during the first five games of the season.
• All five goals allowed during this time were surrendered during two stretches that total less than five minutes. The Hokies allowed SIUE to score three goals in span of three minutes and eight seconds in the season opener while North Carolina’s Martin Murphy scored twice one minute and 52 seconds.
CAPTAINS
• Senior David Fiorello will finish out his Tech career as a three-time team captain for the Hokies, while junior Jed Prater will join him for his first time in the role.
DON’T I KNOW YOU
• The center back pairing of DeVante DuBose and Drew Ranahan played high school soccer at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Calif.
• Redshirt freshmen Hunter Byrnes and Drew Hartell were high school teammates at F.W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach. They also both played club soccer for Beach FC.
• Freshmen Kai Marshall and Shane Rose played for Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Va., while also playing club soccer for SOCA Lightning.
• Despite going to high schools more than 300 miles apart, freshmen Hunter Jecius and Deven Mason played club soccer together for New Mexico Rush Nike Argonauts ‘94 which is located in Albuquerque, N.M.
• Freshmen Daniel Lauretano and Carter Brown played club soccer together for Richmond Kickers Academy.