Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech Women?s Soccer team fell to the Evansville Purple Aces Saturday afternoon, 3-0, in the McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Ind. With the loss, the Hokies drop to 4-2-1, while Evansville improves to 3-3-0.

?We just didn?t show up,? said senior goalkeeper Mallory Soldner. ?Our level of performance was nowhere near where it should have been.? The trip to Indiana was a return home for Soldner, a native of Lanesville, Ind.

?It was disappointing,? she said. ?It was kind of a home game for me, a lot of my family and friends came out.?

Evansville scored within the first minute of the game, determining the pace of the match from the onset. The Purple Ace?s Heidi Gray found Kayla Lambert in the middle, who in turn chipped the ball over Soldner.

?They started from the second the whistle blew, and we didn?t, and we paid for it,? Soldner said. Twelve minutes later, Mia Tofano notched Evansville?s second goal from 12 yards out off an assist from Lambert. The Hokies went into halftime with a two-goal deficit.

In the 53rd minute of the match, Lambert scored her second goal of the game off an Evansville corner kick.

Although Evansville held Tech scoreless, the Hokies out-shot the Purple Aces 16-10, but only produced three shots on goal compared to Evansville?s five.

Junior Mary Elizabeth Newton and Sophomore LB Puglisi led the team in shots with three apiece. Newton, freshman Julian Johnson and sophomore Mallory Jones each shot one ball on goal. Evansville goalkeeper Whitney Raeon notched three saves in the match, while Soldner earned two.

Tech returns to Blacksburg Thursday for its Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Duke. Last season, the then ranked No. 7 Blue Devils defeated the Hokies 2-0 in Durham after a closely fought battle.

For Thursday, Tech looks to learn from this past weekend to defeat the inner-conference foe.

?I think if we can handle it properly, it?ll make us stronger,? Soldner said. ?It?s forcing us to self-assess as a team and as individuals to make the changes we need to compete in the ACC.?

The game begins at 7 p.m. in the Soccer Stadium located behind McComas Hall. The first 150 fans will receive a free Virginia Tech hat.