BLACKSBURG – Less than 90 seconds into the Hokies' first home NCAA match since 2015, the Virginia Tech women's soccer team found itself trailing and that lone tally held as No. 24 Xavier ended the Hokies season with the 1-0 decision in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship Friday night at Thompson Field.
Xavier (17-3-2) would catch a lucky break as a punched out ball from Tech goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn landed right in front of the Musketeer's Molly McLaughlin at the top of the box. She shot toward the lower left corner and past McGlynn, who could not dive for it as she was tangled up with her own defender.
Tech (12-5-2) battled the remaining 88 minutes of the contest, forcing 10 corner kicks and outshooting the visitors 12-4, and 8-2 in the second half, but could not come up with an equalizer.
Emma Steigerwald had a shot that hit off the crossbar in the 19th minute. In the second half, Jordan Hemmen had a shot that beat the Xavier goalkeeper Olivia Jenkins but was saved by a defender. Jenkins also saved a header by Hemmen in the 59th minute and another Steigerwald shot two minutes later.
Lilly Weber (71st minute) and Nicole Kozlova (90th minute) also had shots that Jenkins made saves on to post the shutout and end the Hokies' season.
From Coach Adair:
Tech's @CoachChugger talks after tonight's season-ending loss. pic.twitter.com/OctYPl5INo
— Virginia Tech Women's Soccer (@HokiesWSoccer) November 16, 2019
Quick Notes:
Xavier improves to 6-0-1 all-time against the Hokies.
Jaylyn Thompson finished her career by starting in 69 straight matches, the most since Kelsey Mitchell (2009-12) started all 88 games of her Tech career.
McGlynn played 5,255:20 straight minutes to finish out her Tech career. The last time she was substituted was Aug. 25, 2017 (56 straight matches).
Gallery: (11/15/2019) 2019 WOMEN'S SOCCER NCAA FIRST ROUND