October 14, 2009

BOX SCORE

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Longwood University dropped a 3-0 women's soccer road decision at nationally-ranked #16 Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Wednesday night in Blacksburg.  The host Hokies led 2-0 at the intermission while improving to 11-3 overall as the Lancers fell to 8-6 this season.  Longwood will play again on Friday night, October 16, remaining on the road at South Carolina State in Orangeburg, South Carolina beginning at 7 p.m..
    
Virginia Tech took a 1-0 lead about midway of the opening period when Julian Johnson scored at 22:00, slipping the ball into the net past the Longwood keeper with an assist from Marika Gray.  The Hokies made it 2-0 just before halftime with their second goal at 42:57 as Julia Goldsworthy scored with an assist from Sloane Levin.  VT added a final goal just past the halfway mark of the second period at 69:47; Kelsey Mitchell finding the back of the net for the hosts on the cold, rainy night.

"They're one of the top teams in the nation for a reason," said veteran 16th-year head coach Todd Dyer '93.  "Overall, I'm proud of the effort -- nights like tonight always make us better so we feel good about that."
    
Virginia Tech took a 24-2 advantage in shots, including 9-2 in attempts on-goal, and had a 9-3 edge on corner kicks as well.  Redshirt-junior keeper Marcia Biddle/Woodbridge (Gar-Field) played the first half in front of the net for the Lancers with three saves, and freshman keeper Kyra Byron/Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) played the second half with three saves as well.  Senior Ashlee McConnell/Carlisle, Pa. (Carlisle) and junior Alex Myers/Stafford (Colonial Forge) collected the two on-goal shots, respectively, for LU.  Kristin Carden played the first 81:13 for the Hokies with two saves, while Rebekah Brook played the final 8:47.
    
It was the fourth meeting between the two schools in women's soccer since 2004 as Virginia Tech has won all four matches.  The Hokies, enjoying their finest season in the 16-year history of the program, also defeated #2 North Carolina (11-1-1) for the first-time ever by a score of 1-0 on October 4 when the Tar Heels were top-ranked at the time.