October 9, 2006

Box Score

VT 3, N.C. State 2

 

RALEIGH, N.C. - Despite playing a man down for the majority of the match, the Virginia Tech men's soccer team earned its first ACC win of the season Monday afternoon with a 3-2 victory at N.C. State. The match was rescheduled from Sunday due poor field conditions resulting from heavy rainfall.

Ben Nason netted the game-winner in the 73^rd minute when he dribbled into the box and fired one of his team-leading three shots on the day. He also assisted on Marcus Reed's game-tying goal earlier in the second half.

"It was important to get our first ACC win today," head coach Olver Weiss said after the game. "Even though we're five games [into the conference schedule], we have kept ourselves alive."

Tech (7-4-1, 1-3-1 ACC) rises to eighth in the standings, leapfrogging the Wolfpack (4-7-1, 1-4-1 ACC) via the head-to-head tiebreak as both teams have four points apiece.

Brent Dillie lit the scoreboard first when he put home a Charlie Campbell corner kick in the 16^th minute for his first goal of the season.

Dillie's effort was negated ten minutes later, however, when he drew a red card and an ejection that presented N.C. State with the one-man advantage and a free kick from 20 yards out. El Hadj Cisse converted the try to lock up the score at one at the 26:06 mark.

The Wolfpack kept the momentum going, scoring once again just under two minutes later when Alan Sanchez recorded his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

"It looked like all hope was lost," Weiss said of the sudden turn of events. "But we came out in the second half, fought hard, and played unbelievable soccer."

The Hokies stepped up the effort in the second half, taking four more shots and four more corner kicks than the Wolfpack. Marcus Reed tied it up at two in the 55^th minute, when he controlled a loose ball in the box from Nason. It was Reed's third score of the year.

Nason's game-clincher came at 72:01 after he received a pass from Eric Vickers. Nason now has three goals and four assists on the season, while Vickers has tallied a career-high three assists.

"We showed a lot of heart today," Weiss said. "It was a great team effort."

The Hokies have two more games remaining this week, hosting Elon at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Clemson at 7 p.m. on Saturday