AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Virginia Tech women's soccer team has advanced to the 2018 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship for the 10th time in program history and the first time since the 2015 season. The Hokies face No. 17 and the fourth-seed in the North Carolina regional Texas Longhorns on Friday night in Austin, Texas. Match information, links and game notes for each program are below.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Friday, November 9 - 8 PM ET
Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field; Austin, Texas
Virginia Tech Hokies (9-7-3, 5-5-0 ACC, 8th) at #17 Texas Longhorns (13-4-3, 5-3-1 Big 12, 3rd)
Virginia Tech Head Coach: Chugger Adair
Record at the school: 104-47-18
Career record: same
Texas Head Coach: Angela Kelly
Record at school: 74-47-19 (7th season)
Career record: 234-131-39 (19th season)
Texas' preview story: CLICK HERE
Series: First meeting
Tech all-time versus Big 12: 5-3
vs. Iowa State - 1-0
vs. Oklahoma - 1-0
vs. West Virginia - 3-3
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
Broadcast: Longhorn Network; Link: CLICK HERE
NCAA Championship First Round Notes for the Hokies (link to Game Notes pdf packet)
The Hokies make 10th trip to NCAA postseason tournament
- After sitting through NCAA selection shows over the past two seasons and leaving with an overwhelming sense of disappointment, Tech found themselves rewarded by the selection committee, receiving an at-large bid to the 2018 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.
- The Hokies made their 10th NCAA appearance as a program, boasting a strong strength of schedule (17th prior to the championship week tournaments) and an RPI of 43.
Tech lands three Hokies on 2018 ACC All-Conference teams
- The 2018 Women's Soccer ACC All-Conference teams feature 40 of the conference student-athletes and included three Virginia Tech Hokies – Mandy McGlynn, a First Team selection, Kelsey Irwin, a Third Team choice, and Emily Gray, who made the All-Freshman Team.
- McGlynn, Tech's goalkeeper who was named to the 2018 preseason All-ACC team, turned in her best single season while playing for the Hokies in her career. McGlynn is just the fourth Tech player to ever be named All-ACC First Team, joining Jazmine Reeves (2013), Ashley Meier (2015) and Murielle Tiernan, who was a three-time honoree from 2014-16 and she's the first goalkeeper so honored.
- Irwin was tabbed a Third Team defender by the league and earns her first ever postseason accolade and becomes just the second defender for the Hokies to make an All-ACC team. Jordan Coburn was a three-time All-ACC Third Team defender as well (2013-15). The redshirt-junior from San Diego, California played all 1,770 minutes of action this season – Tech's only field player to log every minute of the year. She also scored three times and added an assist for a total of seven points, fourth-most on the team. At Villanova (Sept. 7), she notched her first career multi-goal game, and the first game winner of her collegiate career, with a pair of goals. Irwin became the first Hokie with a multi-goal contest since Oct. 9, 2016 when Tiernan scored twice at Boston College.
- Gray becomes the 13th Hokie to be named to the ACC All-Freshman Team, but the first since 2014 (Madi Conyers). The Sewell, New Jersey product led the Hokies with five assists during the 2018 season and also added a pair of goals for nine points, second most on the team to classmate Karlie Johnson's 12. The midfielder was dangerous on free kicks and took the majority of Tech's corners this season (37), resulted in several goals – most notably in the Hokies' 1-0 wins over No. 6 Virginia and at Louisville.
In 2018 Tech games, scoring first is critical
- This season in Tech matches, only once did the team that scored the day's first goal not go on to win the match, and that was then-No. 22 Georgetown, which resulted in a 1-1 draw back on Aug. 19.
- Since then, the team that scored the contest's first goal is 16-0, with the Hokies holding an 9-0 record while the opponents are 7-0, with one double overtime 0-0 tie in the mix (Sept. 2 at Georgia).
- In fact, once the first goal has been scored, the team with the lead has never relinquished it - and has actually gone on to register a shutout in 11 of those contests, with Tech earning six of them.
- So, the good news is - when the Hokies score a goal, they are 9-1-1 this season.
- Lastly, in just five matches this year both teams have scored, which if holds, would tie for the fewest ever in a single season done only three other times, 1996 and 2005 (5-of-19) and 2017 (5-of-18).