GREENSBORO, N.C. – One week out from kicking off the 2021 regular season at home, the Virginia Tech women's soccer team learned on Thursday how its ACC competition will stack up as the conference revealed its predicted order of finish.
Receiving 85 points in the 2021 ACC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll, Tech was projected to finish seventh in the year-end conference standings. The Hokies' placement matched their seed from the 2020 ACC Women's Soccer Championship after Tech (8-9-0, 4-4-0 ACC) had tied Louisville and Notre Dame for sixth place in the league table.
Virginia Tech returns 24 of its 31 goals scored from the 2020-21 season (77 percent), including its two leading points earners: senior midfielder Emily Gray (nine goals, 26 points) and sophomore forward Tori Powell (seven goals, 18 points). Defensively, the Hokies retain their primary goalkeeper from a year ago, sophomore Alia Skinner, as well as two of their top backs in sophomores Victoria Haugen and Averi Visage.
Among its new arrivals in Blacksburg, Tech added nine true freshmen to its 2021 roster who are each capable of making breakout performances this fall.
Headlining Tech's peak competition, Florida State received 167 points and 11 first-place votes in Thursday's ACC preseason coaches poll – eight days after the Seminoles had earned the No. 1 national preseason ranking per United Soccer Coaches. The Hokies will entertain the defending ACC champion and national runner-up in Blacksburg on Friday, Oct. 15, at Thompson Field.
North Carolina (155 points) and Virginia (148) – which like Florida State, both advanced to the 2020 College Cup – were voted to finish second and third this season, respectively, by the ACC coaches. UNC scooped up two of the remaining first-place votes that were up for contention while UVA collected the final first-place vote.
Bridging the gap to the Hokies, Duke (129 points), Clemson (124) and Notre Dame (104) occupied fourth through sixth place. Excluding the Irish, each of the top five ACC programs in Thursday's coaches poll are ranked among the top seven spots in the United Soccer Coaches national preseason poll.
Trailing Tech were eighth-place Louisville (77 points), ninth-place Wake Forest (72), 10th-place North Carolina State (71), 11th-place Pittsburgh (57), 12th-place Boston College (45), 13th-place Syracuse (24) and 14th-place Miami (16).
Virginia Tech will close the preseason on Thursday afternoon with a 5 p.m. home exhibition match against Richmond at Thompson Field. The Hokies are scheduled to open the regular season on Thursday, Aug. 19, when Tech welcomes Liberty to Blacksburg for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Thompson Field is currently operating at 100 percent capacity and admission to all home matches – including exhibitions – is free.
