LOUISVILLE, KY. – A month after falling to Louisville 2-1, the No. 22 Virginia Tech men's soccer team bested the Cardinals 2-0 in their rematch in the first round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday night at Lynn Stadium.
The Hokies (9-5-2, 2-4-2) are known to be aggressive to start their matches, but it was the Cardinals (8-7-1, 3-4-1) that put on the early pressure.
It wasn't long before Mathijs Swaneveld was tested as Louisville's Haji Abdikadir's shot in the 3rd minute looked as if was going to curl into the top right if not for Swaneveld's leaping punch. The rebound off the save bounced to the feet of Louisville's Cameron Wheeler, who's shot was once again stopped by the junior keeper.
In the 11th minute the Cardinals had another opportunity for an early lead off the leg of William Portman, but his shot from 23-yards out sailed just over the crossbar.
After surviving the opening stretch of play, The Hokies were able to find their rhythm and get the pace-of-play back in their favor.
Tech had their chances, but were unable to connect on any of them throughout the opening period. A foul on Daniel Pereira right outside the box in the 43rd minute set up a free kick for Jon Ingason. Ingason, who has made all five of his goals on the season off set pieces, stepped up and curled his shot past the wall and to the bottom left for his sixth goal of the season.
It looked as if the Hokies would take a 1-0 lead into the half, but with three seconds remaining, Kristo Srickler was fouled 20 yards out and to the far left. It was Pereira who took the free kick as he curled it into the top right of the far post and over the keeper's hands to extend Tech's lead.
Both teams went in to the second half looking to put points on the board, but strong defensive play by each side would see neither team record another point.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Shots: Virginia Tech 12-11
- Corners: Virginia Tech 5-3
- Saves: Virginia Tech 4-2
GAME NOTES
- The win against Louisville was the first in the Mike Brizendine era, moving his all-time record against the Cardinals to 1-2-1
- Pereira recorded goals in back-to-back matches for the first time of his career
- Tech improved to 7-2-1 on the season when scoring first
- Nathan Durst made his third start of the season
UP NEXT
The Hokies will travel to Winston-Salem to face No. 3 seed Wake Forest in the quarterfinals on Sunday November 10 at 5 p.m.