Hokie ClubHUNTINGTON, W. Va. – No. 12 Virginia Tech threatened in the final two minutes of the first half with their first shot of the contest, but two penalty kicks from No. 2 Marshall, the last in the dwindling minutes of the contest forced a 2-2 draw inside Hoops Family Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
No. 12 Virginia Tech came out strong defensively as Joao Felicio and Amir Ariely made critical stops in the opening minutes to deny No. 2 Marshall any early momentum. The Herd created their first real chance in the 13th minute, but the shot was deflected by Noe Uwimana’s timely intervention on defense.
Marshall’s pressure continued with a dangerous run into the box in the 17th minute. However, Hokies' goalkeeper Sam Joseph was quick to react, swatting the ball away to keep the net clean. Not long after in the 19th minute, the Herd’s Joao Roberto fired a long-range shot while Joseph was off his line, but the ball skimmed the side of the post on it's way out of the pitch.
With the match still scoreless, No. 12 Virginia Tech broke through in the 43rd minute as Ian Marcano netted a well-timed goal for the Hokies first shot of the match. His finish gave the visiting team a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
No. 2 Marshall came out with renewed energy in the second half and equalized in the 53rd minute after a foul inside the box awarded them a penalty kick. The shot slowly tricked into the left side of the cage.
A sudden swing in momentum placed the Hokies on the offensive attack. Yanis Belatrache passed the ball through the splitting defense to a sprinting wide-open Alex Perez. He secured his second goal in as many games in the 80th minute as Perez found himself with a one-on-one chance, slotting the ball into the upper shelf to put No. 12 Virginia Tech back in front, 2-1.
The Herd pushed forward to attempt to escape their first loss at home since 2023, but both Ariely and Joseph came up with clutch defensive executions to slow the home team's progress. With the clock winding down and two minutes left in the contest, the referee's went to VAR after cluttered play in the Hokies defensive box that awarded No. 2 Marshall their second penalty kick of the contest. The most critical shot of the match sided left out of the reach of Joseph to level the game, 2-2.
HOW THEY SCORED
43' | No. 12 Virginia Tech's Ian Marcano slid the ball with his left foot past the defense off Noe Uwimana's cross in from the end line
53' | No. 2 Marshall's Rai Pinto shot left on the penalty kick
80' | VT's Yanis Belathrache fed the ball up to an open Alex Perez who took the ball off his right foot to go on the upper left side
88' | Marshall was awarded a penalty kick that went to the left side from Momo Diop
GAME NOTES
- This match marked the first tie between No. 2 Marshall and No. 12 Virginia Tech in the 17 game series (13-3-1)
- The Hokies have not dropped a contest to a top three ranked team so far in 2025
- VT continues to hold the streak over the Herd, not dropping a contest to them since 1994
- As a No. 12 ranked team, Virginia Tech holds a 6-0-2 (0.875) record and are 2-0-2 (0.750) when their opponent is also ranked
- VT's record moves to 2-0-1 when they score first in the contest
- No. 12 Virginia Tech was held to one corner kick through 90 minutes while Marshall registered eight
- The Herd outshot the Hokies, 19-4
UP NEXT
No. 12 Virginia Tech will return back to Thompson Field on Friday, September 5th at 7 p.m., meeting No. 11 Virginia for the next iteration of the Commonwealth Clash.