BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech women's soccer closes out the regular season against No. 5 Florida State on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m. Thursday's match against Florida State will air live on ACC Network Extra. Tech trails the away series against the Seminoles 0-7.
Thursday, October 27 – 7 p.m.
Seminole Soccer Complex, Tallahassee, Fla.
vs. No. 5 Florida State (11-2-2, 7-2)
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
Watch Live: CLICK HERE
• ACC Victories (10-5-2, 4-4-1): Virginia Tech defeated Syracuse 2-0 at home on Sunday marking the Hokies sixth shutout victory this season. Gabby Johnson scored the first goal of the game on a corner kick right into the net from the near left side of the pitch. The Hokies scored their second goal of the match starting from a corner kick. Syracuse headed the ball towards Natalie Mitchell who earned the assist by passing it to Lauren Gogal for her first career goal in the 88th minute.
Earlier this month, Tech defeated No. 3 North Carolina in a 2-1 match at Thompson Field on Oct. 1. North Carolina held the lead at the half 1-0. Taylor Bryan put the Hokies back in the game in the final third as she scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute. Tori Powell scored the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute to win the game for Tech. Powell's goal earned her the title of ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
Tech went on a three game winning streak in the ACC with the win over North Carolina. The Hokies first defeated two ACC opponents with both games ending in shutout victories, No. 22 NC State 1-0 and Wake Forest 2-0. Freshman Taylor Price scored the lone goal of the game against NC State in the 63rd minute, her sixth goal of the season.
Virginia Tech is currently ranked fifth in overall shots (269) and fifth in points (107) in the ACC.
• Seminoles (11-2-2, 7-2): Florida State last defeated No. 20 Pittsburgh on Sunday 1-0, but not before falling to No. 2 North Carolina 2-1 in the week prior. The Seminoles scored the winning goal in the 67th minute against Pitt. Pitt put the pressure on in the second half with a shot advantage of 10-5. Both teams were tied in shots on goal (4) and corner kicks (4). Jenna Nighswonger led the team with five shots.
Florida State fell to North Carolina in the 58th minute of the match allowing two goals to go unanswered. The Seminoles took an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 5th minute by Onyi Echegini. The Tar Heels answered back scoring their first goal in the 32nd minute to tie the game at the half. According to Florida State records, FSU has remained unbeaten since 2010 when leading at the half.
The Seminoles have a +31 goal differential over their opponents ranking the team third in goals (42) and fourth in goals allowed (11) in the ACC.
•Hokie Power : Virginia Tech has had 12 athletes score at-least one goal this season, with Taylor Price leading the way with eight goals and three assists. Price is ranked second among freshman in the ACC this season in both goals and points (19). She has been on the ACC top 10 goal scoring list all season long scoring her first goal in the first game of the season. She has gone on to score one goal in three consecutive game each leading to a Virginia Tech victory. Price was named to the College Soccer News Women's National Team of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal against No. 22 NC State 1-0.
Natalie Mitchell added two shots to her total in the match against Syracuse for a total of 50 shots on the season. Similar to Price, Mitchell has been ranked in the top ten in shots throughout the entire season. She is currently ranked tied for ninth in shots, and ranked fourth in assists (8). Price and Mitchell were ranked in the top 15 of the TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 100 midseason list. Price was ranked fifth and Mitchell 11th.
•Recognition: Taylor Bryan was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals against No. 13 Virginia in the final third. Victoria Haugen was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week. Haugen was a key part of the Hokies success in both shutout victories played against NC State and Wake Forest, playing the full 90 minutes in each.
•Watch Out for FSU: Jenna Nighswonger stands out on the team with 51 shots, 19 points, and 11 assists. Nighswonger was named the National Player of the Week assisting in three of five goals against No. 12 Duke on Oct. 13. Onyi Echegini is ranked ninth in goals in the ACC with seven, one goal behind Price. Echegini scored three goals against Boston College in their first ACC matchup. Jody Brown rounds out the trio powerhouse team with six goals and six assists. Brown scored two goals against Clemson and Duke earlier this season.
UP NEXT
• The Hokies will await their fate for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Nov. 7th.
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