BLACKSBURG - The 2018 season officially kicks off on Friday, August 24 for Coach Brizendine and his men's soccer squad in Harrisonburg, Virginia. However, the preseason got underway last week as the team reported back to campus, went through their yearly meetings with each department within Athletics and were issued their new Nike gear.
But the work has just begun on the pitch for a team that must replace 10 seniors from last year's squad that reached the NCAA Championship's Second Round. After just four training sessions, the Hokies hit the field on Saturday afternoon for an exhibition versus West Virginia.
After 60 scoreless minutes, the third 30-minute session saw the action pick up with the Hokies putting four goals past the Mountaineers. Freshman Kahlil Dover scored two goals and added an assist and James Kasak and Evans Moyo each scored a goal on the afternoon helping the Hokies to a 4-1 victory.
Ahead of Tuesday's scrimmage at Old Dominion, we sat down with Coach Brizendine to discuss what he saw on Saturday and what it's like having the guys back gearing up for the season.
On the WVU game
"It's always tough to play a game a couple of days into preseason because you don't really know the dynamics of the team yet. I think that we did a good job considering both teams had heavy legs, and we're kind of mixing and matching lineups.
We felt good about the depth that we were able to show. Some guys came off of the bench and gave us some good minutes, and I was really proud of that. We have so many new players. Our excellent fitness regiment is contributing greatly, and we were able to get through the game without any major injuries. It's also great to mix it up and play against opponents during preseason instead of just intra-squad competition."
On the performances of the newcomers
"In regards to Kahlil (Dover), I knew when we put him in that he would cause trouble for West Virginia. He's a very talented athlete, and he scored some quality goals. I was very happy with what I saw out of him. He's raw, and he's a freshman. We need to continue to develop him but again, he had a very good showing just like a number of young guys.
I thought Daniel (Kang) played really well on the right, and Chris (Little) in the middle was good, Kahlil (Dover) was very confident, so we had some good showings. Mathijs (Swaneveld) in the goal was very good, so we saw some positive things, things we liked. It's far from a finished product, we're just going to have to work hard to continue to get better and better."
On having the team back on campus and preparing for the season
"The first week has been awesome. We missed the guys, and we're excited about the season so it's been awesome just spending time with them. Preseason is a small little taste of what a professional setting would be like because we don't have classes. All we do is train and eat and train some more and work on our craft. It's awesome to have them back. I thought they did a good job over the summer; it seems like the guys worked hard. We had a number of fit guys, and I was really pleased with that. It makes a huge difference in play, and I think it helped against WVU. I thought we were able to do well late in the game when sometimes fatigue can set in. They got on top of us a little bit, and we managed it. If we hadn't been fit, we would not have been able to hold West Virginia off."
The Hokies' first home match of the season is on Friday, September 14th at 7:30 p.m. versus perennial power Wake Forest. Admission to all games at Thompson Field is free.