BLACKSBURG - The 2018 ACC Women's Soccer Championship semifinal matches began Friday evening and, although the Virginia Tech squad is not a part of it, what happens over the next few days in Cary, North Carolina and across the country, will very well have an impact on Tech's chances of being selected as one of the 64 teams to the 2018 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship tournament. The selection show will be on Monday at 4:30 p.m. and the Hokies will find out if they make it during the broadcast for the 10th time in program history and for the first time since 2015.
Below are some important facts about the 2018 Hokies (all rankings are as of Monday):
Virginia Tech's Resume
Record: 9-7-3 overall; 5‐5‐0 ACC (No. 8 seed in the ACC Championship)
RPI: 41; Strength of Schedule: 17
Key Outcomes (RPI): 1‐1 tie vs. Georgetown (RPI 4); 1-0 win vs. Virginia (RPI 12); 1-0 win at Louisville (RPI 48).
Key injuries:
Starting midfielder Lilly Weber (1G, 1A) missed final nine ACC games with torn ACL.
Midfielder Kara Henderson and defender Olivia Odle missed over 75 percent of the season. Both have recently come back for limited minutes the last two weeks of the season.
Forward Nicole Kozlova missed the entire year with ACL injury.
Other key notes:
• 1 of five NCAA postseason eligible schools to play seven or more matches against the RPI Top 25 (Wake Forest 9; Clemson, Florida State 8; Texas Tech and Virginia Tech 7).
• 1 of two schools to play six games against RPI Top 12 (Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, who is not eligible).
• 1 of seven schools to earn at least "four points" (at least a win and tie) against RPI Top 12 teams (Arkansas, Clemson, 6; Stanford 5; North Carolina, Florida State, Virginia Tech 4).
• Only once in ACC history has a team that finished .500 or better in league play NOT advanced to the NCAA postseason – Miami in 2016 (5-5 in ACC but had an RPI in the mid-60s).
• Hokies are 5-for-5 in making NCAA tournament after reaching ACC postseason the same year.
• Tech is 9-for-9 in making NCAA tournament when accumulating at least 12 points in ACC; actually had 15 points this year.
• Hokies were the only team in 2018 ACC postseason to face the other seven teams during the regular season.