Hokie ClubCHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Despite scoring the first goal of the match, the Virginia Tech men’s soccer team fell 3-1 at Boston College on Sunday afternoon.
“The loss today was disappointing. We played very well for the majority of the game and had plenty of opportunities to put the game out of reach, but we couldn’t capitalize. We played well and got the first goal, but a few mistakes cost us today,” explained head coach Mike Brizendine.
The Hokies (4-7-5, 1-4-5 ACC) outshot the Eagles (7-7-2, 4-5-1 ACC) 14-13 in the match and held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
Tech came out on fire in the first half peppering the Boston College goal with five shots while limiting their opponent to a single shot.
Junior Drew Ranahan got an opportunity to score early on in the 6th minute of the match. The Oakland, Calif., native was sent through on a breakaway, but Boston College’s keeper Alex Kapp was able to thwart the attempt.
Tech would get another opportunity to score in the opening minutes when a foul would result in a free kick at the top of the box in the 10th minute of the match. Senior David Clemens stepped up to take the kick and his shot missed just wide of the frame.
The Hokies continued pushing forward and were awarded another free kick in the 24th minute. This time freshman Niels Kirch would take a chance. The Germany native hit a quality shot but his attempt was blocked by an Eagle defender.
Tech would continue to push forward earning a number of corner kicks, but nothing would come of them and the two squads would go into the half level at 0-0.
Senior goalkeeper Kyle Renfro was forced to make one save in the opening period on Boston College’s only shot of the half.
Tech came out of the half searching for the first goal of the match. It came in the 55th minute when Drew Ranahan was taken down in the box. David Clemens stepped up to take the kick and slid it past the Eagles’ Kapp for the 1-0 lead.
Boston College was able to get one back in the 69th minute when Zeiko Lewis picked up a loose ball and hit a shot from close range that was deflected by a Hokie defender into the net to knot the game 1-1.
The Eagles got the go ahead goal in the 76th minute when Matt Wendelken played a ball to Derrick Boateng. Boston College’s Boateng slid the ball past Renfro to make the score 2-1.
Boston College would not stop there, adding one more insurance goal in the 82nd minute when Derrick Boateng hit a shot that was miscleared by a Hokie defender into the net.
“Today we got some quality performances from a few individuals. David Clemens, Drew Ranahan and André Thomas all played well for us on the field and Kyle Renfro had another superb performance in goal today. There were some positives on the day but we’ll be looking to improve against a quality Maryland side on Friday,” concluded Brizendine.
The Hokies will play their final regular season match on Friday night when they take on Maryland at Thompson Field for Senior Night.