Hokie ClubACC Men’s Soccer Championship: First Round
Virginia Tech (6-9-3, 0-7-1 ACC) vs. NC State (10-9-0, 1-7-0 ACC)
Nov. 5 • 1:00 p.m.
Ludwig Field • College Park, Md.
Live Stats: http://www.theacc.com/gametracker/launch/gt_msoccer.htmlevent=1222165&school=acc&sport=msoccer&camefrom=&startschool=&
SCOUTING NC STATE• The Wolfpack head into the tournament coming off of a 2-1 overtime loss at home to Virginia. After jumping out to a 1-0 lead 35 minutes into the game, NC State gave up a surrended a penalty kick in the 69th minute which Will Bates converted for the Cavaliers. Darius Madison tallied the game-winner just over three minutes into the second overtime.• The loss was NC State’s third straight ACC defeat.• The Wolfpack’s offense is led by High Point transfer Alex Martinez. The junior is tied for third in the ACC in goals with 10, while his nine assists tops the league. His 29 points one back of the conference lead. Martinez has taken 55 shots on the year, 37 more than Nazmi Albadawi who is second on the team in the category.•Albadawi is second on the team in points with 11 (3 G, 5 A) in 11 games. Monbo Bokar is third in points with 10 while his five goals is second on the team.• Goalkeeper Fabian Otte has been in goal for 16 of NC States matches, allowing 21 goals and posting a 1.31 goals against average. His 50 saves is tied for fifth in the conference.
SERIES HISTORY•NC State leads the all-time series with a 13-5-1 record..• The Hokies and Wolfpack have met three of the last four years in the first round of the ACC Tournament with NC State coming out on top in each of the contests. The Wolfpack came away with a 1-0 win in Chapel Hill,N.C. in last season’s matchup.• The Wolfpack won the regular season match between the two sides in a 1-0 affair in Blacksburg, Va., on Oct. 12. Danny DiPrima headed in a cross from Alex Martinez with just over 13 minutes remaining in regulation to give NC State the win.
HOKIES IN YOUR HOMEFor fans looking to catch a game live, but can’t attend, 10 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.• Oct. 27 vs. Duke, 7:00 p.m.• ESPN3• Sept. 8 at North Carolina, 7:00 p.m.• Nov. 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 six Hokies wins this season, they’ve scored first.• Four of the six games resulted in shutouts.• The earliest that the Hokies have scored this season is the 14:46 mark when Hunter Jecius connected on a header from a Ben Strong corner kick against NJIT.
HOKIE STOPPER• 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 (85) and saves per game (4.72). He also ranks third in the league in save percentage (.759)• 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.• He again tied his career high of nine saves in a 1-0 victory over Radford on Oct. 23.• The nine saves is a 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 nine career shutouts is one away from cracking the school’s top five.
GOAL SCORING FRESHMEN• Freshmen have accounted for eight of the team’s 17 goals with Daniel Lauretano, Kai Marshall and Connor Pompilio each recording two goals.• Pompilio found the back of the net on his first two shots of the season. His second goal was a game-winner against NJIT.• Hunter Jecius recorded his first goal as a Hokie on his second shot attempt.• Kai Marshall recorded the first goal of his career in his first career start in his hometown of Charlottesville against Virginia.
OFFENSIVE HOKIES• Eight Hokies have combined to score the teams 17 goals.• David Clemens leads the team with seven goals which is tied for fifth in the ACC, while his 15 points sixth most in the league.• Freshmen Daniel Lauretano, Kai Marshall and Connor Pompilio have each tallied a pair of goals with each recording a game-winner.• Lauretano tallied his first collegiate goal in the season opener against SIU-Edwardsville.• 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, the game-winner against St. Bonaventure.• 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, 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.• Marshall recorded his first two career goals in the first two starts of his Hokie career. The first goal was in his hometown of Charlottesville, Va., against Virginia.
HOLDING OPPONENTS IN CHECK• Opponents have tallied 10 or more shots against Tech in 14 of the team’s 18 matches. The Hokies defense has seen a total 264 shots this season.
• Tech has held nine opponents to a goal or less.• 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.
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• Jed Prater, Kyle Renfro and Ben Strong have each eclipsed the 1,600-minute mark this season for the Hokies through 18 games. David Fiorello is two minutes shy of 1,600 minutes.Fiorello, David Clemens and Drew Ranahan have each logged over 1,500 minutes.• Renfro currently leads the team with 1,677 minutes played.• 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.• Five underclassmen have logged more than 900 minutes this season with Drew Ranahan and Ben Strong each totaling more than 1,500 minutes while Daniel Lauretano has eclipsed the 1,100-minute mark.• Strong leads all underclassmen with 1,630 minutes played while Daniel Lauretano leads all freshmen with 1,117 minutes.
ACC TEST• The Hokies finished off a grueling conference test from Sept. 8-28 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 20, 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.
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.