Hokie ClubEDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Brad Vorv scored his first career goal in overtime to propel the Hokies to a 1-0 win over SIUE at Korte Stadium on Friday evening to kick off the 2014 season.
“That was a great win for us. There is no doubt about that. SIUE came out great and proved that they are going to be a force moving forward. They were on top of us in the first half so we had to switch up our game plan at halftime,” explained head coach Mike Brizendine. “With the environment that we were in and all of the new people that got playing time in their first competitive collegiate match, everyone really responded well to the adversity that we faced.We were fortunate to be tied at halftime, but we changed the dynamic and our playing style in the second half and that led to Brad’s goal.”
Virginia Tech (1-0, 0-0 ACC) was able to take advantage when it mattered even though SIUE (0-1, 0-0 MVC) was able to outshoot the Hokies 18-9. In the highly physical match, there were a combined 28 fouls and three yellow cards.
The Hokies nearly got on the board in the 12th minute when Som Essome broke free from the Cougar defense but his shot went just wide of the frame. Play went back and forth from there.
Freshman Ben Lundgaard was the story of the night as he made seven total saves, thwarting multiple SIUE chances. Lundgaard made two saves in the first half and five key saves in the second half to be able to force the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Hokies came out with the will to win. In the 97th minute, sophomore Niels Kirch played the ball to Vorv down the right sideline. Noticing the opposing keeper was off of his line, Vorv coolly chipped the ball over the keeper into the side netting of the far post from 25 yards out.
“Even with the excitement of the win, we have work to do. Saint Louis is up next and they are a great team. In some polls, they are in the top 25. We have our work cut out for us. We are going to need to be better and improve in order to get a result,” concluded Brizendine.
The Hokies will play again on Sunday evening when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri to take on Saint Louis. The Billikens also won their season opener tonight with a late goal against Tulsa in the 86th minute. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.