WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 12 Virginia Tech men's soccer team showed resiliency on the road several times on Tuesday night, en route to a 3-2 victory over William & Mary.
The Hokies (4-1-2, 1-1 ACC) found themselves behind twice to the Tribe (2-2, 0-1 CAA), once in the first half and once in the second half, but ultimately a scrappy goal by Pol Monells clinched the win for Virginia Tech.
After falling behind in the fourth minute, Tech dominated possession and attempted to break through a strong William & Mary defense. Danny Flores rocketed a shot off the crossbar and the ball fell to Cameron Joice, who laid off a pass to Camron Lennon. Lennon released a shot that took a deflection and landed in the back of the net.
The Hokies continued to push towards to home team's goal but couldn't grab another before the half.
Coming out of the half, William & Mary created an opportunity that the Tech defense couldn't clear and turned it in to regain the lead.
As they did in the first half, the Hokies responded with urgency. In the 62nd minute, Kyle McDowell whipped in a ball to Jacob Labovitz, who headed home the equalizer and his fourth goal of the season.
Tech didn't settle with the draw from that point. Ten minutes following Labovitz's goal, Monells cleaned up the remnants of a ball that Conor Pugh delivered and Kahlil Dover attempted to put into the net, and propelled the Hokies to a 3-2 lead.
Shortly after, William & Mary were pushed to 10 men following a red card for a foul on Dover as he was in on goal and were unable to create another breakthrough.
Up next, the Virginia Tech hosts Notre Dame on Friday night at Thompson Field in Blacksburg, Va., when it will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Virginia Tech men's soccer.