BLACKSBURG - The No. 9 ranked Virginia Tech men's soccer team is set for their 2019 debut on Thompson Field on Friday, September 13 when they take on the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels in an ACC contest. It is the first conference game of the season for both clubs.
It will be the first time that the Hokies will be featured on the ACC Network platform.
Coverage Details
- Kickoff time: 7 p.m.
- Live Stats
- ACC Network Extra
The Hokies are coming off of a great weekend in Harrisonburg, Virginia where they went 2-0 at the JMU Invitational, defeating Loyola 2-1 and Hofstra 4-3 in a thriller. Tech got goal contributions from Daniel Pereira and James Kasak to top the Greyhounds and on Sunday Kristo Strickler's brace led the way, with Jon Ingason tallying from the penalty spot and Marc Hoppler nodding home the game winner.
Strickler's seven points (3 goals, 1 assist) pace the team and is eighth in the conference, while Ingason, a defender is the squad's second leading scorer with two tallies. Kasak and Pereira each have a goal and an assist to their credit and freshman forward Nick Blacklock has three assists, a mark good for second most in the ACC through two weeks of action.
The Tar Heels (2–1–1, 0–0)
North Carolina enters the contest on a two-game winning streak after a shaky opening weekend to the 2019 season, where they tied and lost, to Creighton and UCF respectively.
Carolina results in 2019:
- T vs Creighton 2-2
- L vs UCF 1-2
- W vs Harvard 6-0
- W vs UNCG 1-0
Monday night the Heels got by UNCG 1-0 on a goal in the 68thminute by Alex Rose. The Cary, North Caroline native leads the Tar Heels' attack, scoring four goals and adding two assists already in 2019. Midfielder Jack Skahan's five points (2 goals, 1 assists) is the next best mark on the team.
In goal Alec Smir, who has two clean sheets in a row has made nine saves on 28 shots faced.
Series History
The series dates back to October of 1973 with the Tar Heels boasting an all-time record of 15–3–1 against the Hokies.
Tech's last win came on September 10, 2011 in overtime at Thompson Field when the Hokies upset the top ranked Heels 1-0.
On the horizon
Tech returns home on Tuesday, September 17 for a matchup with Grand Canyon on ACC Network Extra. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in the first ever meeting between the two programs.