No. 8 Virginia Tech battles to 2-2 draw against VirginiaNo. 8 Virginia Tech battles to 2-2 draw against Virginia
Men's Soccer

No. 8 Virginia Tech battles to 2-2 draw against Virginia

Andy Sullins recorded his first goal of the season against his former school

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BLACKSBURG – No. 8 Virginia Tech battled to a 2-2 draw with Commonwealth Clash rival Virginia Friday evening.

With the result, the Hokies remain an unbeaten 2-0-2 through four games of the season. Both senior Andy Sullins and freshman Amir Ariely netted their first scores of 2025.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Several fouls in the early minutes of the first half led each side to a chance at the goal within six minutes, but both opportunities sided wide.

Virginia threatened first at the 27th minute on a cut back pass from the wing to the penalty spot for the visitors to take the lead. No. 8 Virginia Tech used the reset to put in some fresh feet, including Andy Sullins, who one-timed the pass from Yanis Belatrache into the side right netting at the 29th minute.

Closing in on the halftime break, the Hokies put together a set play where Ian Marcano was tasked with the inbound pass of the corner kick. Marcano’s flick found the head of Colin Beutel who then trapped the ball, hit it over to Amir Ariely for the volley into the frame to give Tech the 2-1 advantage.

With some fire in their play, both sides came out of the break chippy, resulting in several cautions. In a bit of an offensive drought, the Hokies kept finding ways to create chances, but the defensive play from the Cavaliers held off VT. At the 62nd minute, a pass was slotted through to Beutel who launched and was denied by Virginia’s keeper Casper Mols who came off his line. Following, Declan Quill was left unmarked in the box, firing on goal only to see another clutch save from Mols. Closing the sequence, Ian Marcano nearly buried a rebound moments later, but the Cavalier defense scrambled to keep it out.

No. 8 Virginia Tech persisted despite back-to-back swats on Quill attempts. UVA countered just four minutes later, dribbling through the Hokies defense and hit a well-timed deflection (79’) to equalize, 2-2.

GAME NOTES

  • Since 2020, No. 8 Virginia Tech is 3-4-2 in Commonwealth Clash meetings
  • Two goals from the Hokies tied their most ever scored against the Cavaliers in the series history
  • VT collected their sixth tie as a top 10 team
  • 2,438 Hokie faithful marked a top-five attendance for the program
  • Virginia slightly edged out No. 8 Virginia Tech in shots, 14-13
  • The Hokies put eight shots on frame while the Cavaliers only had five
  • Sam Joseph tied his season high of three saves
  • Yanis Belatrache saw his second assist of the season in as many games
  • Declan Quill led all players with three shots on goal, all in the second half

COMMONWEALTH CLASH

The tie gives both the Hokies and Cavaliers a half a point in the Commonwealth Clash, presented by Smithfield. The score for the Commonwealth Clash currently is knotted 0.5.-0.5. For more information, visit hokiesports.com/commonwealth-clash.

UP NEXT

No. 8 Virginia Tech continues their three-match homestand with a Tuesday (Sept. 9) meeting with Furman. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m.