Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech men's soccer team's first ever win over the Old Dominion Monarchs couldn't have come at a better time for the Hokies.

Tech -- who prior to Sunday's game was 0-4-4 all-time against the Monarchs-- won 1-0 Sunday afternoon, and in doing so the team earned a ticket to their first NCAA Tournament quarterfinal match in school history.

"(I'm) very pleased with the entire game today," said Tech head coach Oliver Weiss. "It's obviously another milestone in our season -- advancing to another round."

The Hokies' defense kept Old Dominion's offense in check the entire afternoon, limiting the Monarchs to just one shot on goal. Tech goalkeeper Markus Aigner turned away the lone shot he faced to record his fourth shutout of the season and improve his record to 8-2-5 on the season.

Junior forward Patrick Nyarko scored the lone goal of the game at the 22:13 mark of the first half. Senior midfielder Georg Zehender sent a cross to Nyarko, who gained possession over an Old Dominion defender and fired a shot on goal. The shot rattled off the crossbar, bounced downward and narrowly crossed the goal line to give the Hokies a one-goal edge.

"It was a play that we practice over and over, so when I saw the ball came over and went to the flanks, I knew what run to make and Georg just found me with the ball," Nyarko said. "I was being heckled a little bit, but I just decided to go on until the end of the play and luckily it went in."

The goal was Nyarko's sixth of the season and 30th of his career, tying him for fifth on the all-time goals list at Tech.

Tech nearly cushioned its lead several times in the waning minutes of the second half but couldn't manage to find the twine. Junior forward Robert Edmans had a golden opportunity with nine minutes remaining, but Old Dominion goalkeeper Evan Newton made a sprawling save to deny Edmans and the Hokies and keep the Monarchs' chances alive.

"It definitely got tense a little bit at the end, but I think we were really good about being compact," said senior midfielder and co-captain Ben Nason. "In times like that you just get behind the ball and try to counter. The couple times we did, we just didn't quite put the ball away."

Luckily for the Hokies, the missed opportunities didn't come back to hurt them, as the Tech defense thwarted any hopes of an Old Dominion comeback in the final minutes of the game.

"With it being a playoff game, you've got to really focus on not giving the other team a chance," Weiss said. "And when you do that, I think you stymie their enthusiasm (and) their belief ... We should have finished the gameplay with two or three goals today, but so be it. I'll take the win."

The Hokies will now travel to Storrs, Conn. this weekend to face the Connecticut Huskies in an Elite Eight match-up in the NCAA Tournament.