Virginia Tech's women's soccer team played to a tie with the conference-leading Miami Hurricanes last night. The tie gives the Hokies an overall record of 4-4-2 with a conference record of 0-2-1.
Miami, a team that was predicted to finish dead last in the ACC preseason poll, has turned many heads this season with their superb play. Nevertheless, the Hokies did not pay attention to the Canes' play earlier in the season.
"We kind of take every game as an exponent," said goaltender Ashley Owens of the team's game mentality. "We focus more on us and less on what the other team is doing."
Miami came out firing and did not stop until the final whistle sounded signifying the end of the game. The lone goal in the first half came within the 14th minute when Hokie goalie Ashley Owens made a diving save but deflected the ball to the Hurricanes' points leader Brittney Steinbruch, who had a wide open shot with Owens still out of place. Owens, who had a total of nine saves on the night, had to deal with the speedy Miami forward all night.
"I think we did a really good job of shutting her down," said Owens of Steinbruch. "Part of our plan was to man-mark her and let her know our presence."
Tech's shooters attacked the opposition's goal throughout the game with a total of 12 shots on goal. Miami goalie Lauren McAdam did not allow anything to get past her for the entire first half, making diving saves on more than one occasion.
Perhaps one of the most promising openings given to the Hokies on the night came early in the second half when freshman Jessica Varela passed it to forward Julian Johnson who was only a couple feet away from the goal. But McAdam was there once again, as she seemed to be whenever the ball came remotely close to the goal, and robbed Johnson of a golden opportunity.
Tech finally figured McAdam out with 29:31 left to go in the second half when freshman Marika Gray scored on a Johnson-assisted goal which tied the game up at 1-1 a piece. The score was Gray's sixth goal of the season which leads the team.
The goal by Gray gave the Hokies hope for a win. However, goaltenders for both teams continued with their solid play and did not allow a score in either overtime, which cemented the tie.
The Hokies will have the beginning part of the weekend to rest but will see action again on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they host the other ACC team from the Sunshine state, the ninth-ranked Florida State Seminoles.