Moments of Excellence: Men's soccer downs No. 11 Louisville in ACC Championship first round

As the 2022 calendar year comes to a close, Virginia Tech Athletics will spend the month of December celebrating the Hokies' standout achievements from the past 12 months in a campaign called "Moments of Excellence."

The "Moments of Excellence" campaign will serve as a look back to the historic highlights and memorable accomplishments in Tech Athletics during 2022. Each varsity sport program will have an outstanding moment featured during December on the official Virginia Tech Athletics website and @HokieSports social media properties. Fans can visit the Hokies' social media directory to stay in contact with Tech Athletics and their favorite sports teams.
 
The men's soccer team went on the road to defeat No. 11 Louisville, 2-1, in the first round of the ACC Championship last season. In doing so, the Hokies became the first No. 12 seed to knock off a No. 5 seed in the tournament, which serves as their Moment of Excellence. 
 The MOMENT

Behind a second-half winner from Daniel Starr, Virginia Tech defeated No. 11 Louisville, 2-1, on Wednesday night in the first round of the ACC Championship.

The Hokies struck first in the 30th minute when Ethan Ballek registered his first career goal off a Misei Yoshizawa corner kick. 

Only seven minutes later, Louisville scored an equalizer and the two teams went into the break even. Both teams were nearly equal in opportunities in the first 45 minutes, as the hosts held a 4-5 shot advantage.
 
Ten minutes into the second half, Yoshizawa registered his second assist of the night as he fed Starr in with a through ball. The senior was able to slot home the shot to the near post and put Tech back into the lead. 
 
As the Hokies saw out the game, sophomore Ben Martino rose to the occasion and made a handful of big saves late to secure the win. With less than two minutes on the clock, Martino stretched out for a remarkable one-handed save off a Louisville volley.
 
Tech was able to see out the rest of the match and clinch a spot in the ACC quarterfinal against Wake Forest on Sunday, Nov. 6.
 Gallery: (11-2-2022) MSOC: ACC Championship First Round Match