Collegiate Times

Bryan Collier dribbles past a pair of California defenders during Wednesday night's win over the Golden Bears.

A pair of Charlie Campbell goals -- and perhaps a little bit of luck -- powered the No. 11 seed Virginia Tech men's soccer team to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the visiting California Golden Bears Tuesday night at the Virginia Tech Soccer Stadium.

The Hokies (12-3-5) pulled out a determined win over the Pac-10 conference champions to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament - the furthest the program has ever advanced in the national postseason tournament.

"I think it's just a testament to the quality of kids we were able to attract to this place ... and also for them to keep working hard and elevate the program by their hard work over the years," said Virginia Tech head coach Oliver Weiss.

The Hokies started the scoring in the 25th minute when senior midfielder Ben Nason buried his sixth goal of the season. Junior forward Patrick Nyarko started the play with a sequence of dazzling spins and dribbles, and then shot into a huddle of California defenders. The shot was blocked by the defense, but it took a fortuitous ricochet to Nason who fired a well-struck volley past California goalkeeper Stefan Frei.

"The ball just kind of popped out to me perfectly," Nason said. "To be honest, I think I was kind of lucky that I hit it where I did."

But whether a stroke of luck or not, the early goal proved vital to the Hokies' success.

"(The first goal) was very crucial because it keeps building your confidence," Weiss said. "It's unusual for teams to come back from behind and beat a team at home. It was a crucial psychological advantage as well as a goal (to go) ahead."

California showed determination throughout the first half, both outshooting and outchancing the Hokies, but its hard work yielded meager results as they found themselves facing a 1-0 deficit entering halftime.

"You have to credit (Virginia Tech) for taking their chances well, which I think they did," said California coach Kevin Grimes. "On the flip side, I thought we also had numerous chances - especially in the first half - to score at least one, if not two goals ... We did not finish those opportunities and (Virginia Tech) took advantage of it."

Virginia Tech capitalized on another scoring opportunity 11 minutes into the second half when sophomore Charlie Campbell buried an open look inside the 18-yard box. Midfielder Marcus Reed received a pass from the wing and then dished to Campbell, who struck a low, hard shot off California's goalkeeper and into the net.

However, the Hokies' two-goal cushion didn't last long.

Just three minutes after taking a 2-0 advantage, California's Andrew Wiedeman collected a rebound and made a quick pass toward the middle. Wiedeman's pass found a streaking Javier Ayala-Hil, who scored on a sliding effort to cut the Virginia Tech lead in half.

Ayala-Hil's tally proved to be just a glancing blow though, as the Hokies withheld the California attack and regained the two-goal advantage with only 5:39 remaining in the game. Campbell took a pass from Nyarko and triggered a shot off the crossbar and into the net for his second goal of the game.

"Patrick dribbled a couple guys on the end line and I waited on the six (yard line) and then called his name and he gave it to me," Campbell said.

Ayala-Hil scored again for the Golden Bears with 29 seconds remaining, but it proved to be too little and too late as the Hokies took control of the ensuing kickoff and ran out the clock.

"We have a very explosive team," Weiss said. "If we stick to our guns and do the gameplan ... then we're hard to stop. We're impossible to stop."

The Hokies return to the field Sunday afternoon for another home NCAA Tournament match against the Old Dominion Monarchs. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Soccer Stadium.