Former Virginia Tech soccer forward Patrick Nyarko led the Chicago Fire to a come-from-behind 1-1 draw against D.C. United on Sunday evening. Nyarko registered the equalizer in the 53rd minute of play, for his first goal of the season. The Fire posts a 1-0-1 record and is currently in a three-way tie for first place in the MLS Eastern standings.

Nyarko, in just his second season with Chicago leads the team with a goal and an assist this season. The Fire opened the season with a 3-1 win at FC Dallas on March 21 and will play its home opener on Sunday, April 5 at 2 p.m. against the New York Red Bulls.

Virginia Tech softball signee Courtney Liddle of Haymarket, Va., is listed as one of the top 25 senior softball players in the country by ESPNU, as released this week. The catcher, who led Battlefield High School to a state runner-up finish last year, signed with the Hokies in the fall. She was also named an Under Armour All-American last season and earned first-team All-Met honors from The Washington Post after hitting .471 as a junior with five home runs.

The full list can be found here.

The Virginia Tech golf team traveled to Greenville, S.C., a day early and spent Wednesday visiting with children at the Shriners Hospital for Children. This is the second consecutive year that the team has visited the hospital.

The visit, arranged through the Virginia Tech Athletics Department’s Office of Student Life, is one of the ways that Hokies “give back” to the community.

The team visited every child at the hospital except those who were having surgery and even met with some children prior to their surgery. They spent time in the activity area teaching them how to putt, using each players’ own putter, and visited children who were bedridden in their rooms.

Each child received a personalized golf team poster, signed by every player, a Hokie Kids Club T-shirt, and mini VT basketball goal and ball.  The team was taken on a “behind the scenes” tour of the hospital, including specialized areas and had lunch in the cafeteria with the children.

As soon as the team, led by head coach Jay Hardwick, entered the hospital, they were greeted by a couple from Hillsville, Va., wearing Virginia Tech jackets, who had brought their twin sons to the hospital for treatment.

“It was an unbelievable experience for our players,” Hardwick said. “They were happy to bring joy and smiles to those special children - our way to give back.”

On Thursday, the Hokies will play their practice round for the 2009 Furman Intercollegiate. The three-day tournament will begin Friday morning and will conclude on Sunday.

For more information on the Shriners Hospital for Children, log on to:

http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Main

The following is an update on the four women's basketball 2009-10 signees:
 
Alyssa Fenyn led her team, Newark High School, to the New York State Championship title last weekend. The 6’0 guard was named the MVP of the tournament with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals in the game. Fenyn was named First Team All State, Region MVP, and has scored 2,458 points in her career.
 
Aerial Wilson, a 5’8” guard, was named the Florida 4A Player of the Year after leading the state of Florida in scoring for all divisions with an average of 31.2 points per game. Wilson is now a finalist for Florida’s Miss Basketball and scored 2075 points in her career at Rockledge High School.
 
Abby Redick returned late in the season to help Hidden Valley to the State Championship Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The 6’1” forward scored 1,038 points in her career and helped the Titans win two State Championships.
 
Porschia Hadley, a 6’3” forward, recently competed in the Georgia High School All Star game. Hadley averaged 17 points and 14 rebounds last season as a senior at Macon County High School. 

The Virginia Tech football team awards for the 2008 season were handed out last night at a cookout held outside the Merryman Center. The following awards were voted on by the team:

Permanent Team Captains: Brett Warren, Ryan Shuman, Orion Martin, Victor "Macho" Harris
Outstanding Defensive Lineman - Jason Worilds
Outstanding Defensive Linebacker - Brett Warren
Outstanding Defensive Back - Victor "Macho" Harris
Outstanding Offensive Lineman - Ryan Shuman
Outstanding Offensive Receiver - Greg Boone
Outstanding Offensive Back - Darren Evans
Outstanding Specialist - Dustin Keys
Most Valuable Player - Victor "Macho" Harris

The following awards were voted on by the coaching staff:
John William Schneider Award (this is given in memory of former player William Schneider, who was killed in an automobile crash. It goes to a player who excels in athletics, scholarship and leadership): Dustin Pickle

Paul Torgersen Award (given in honor of former Tech President Paul Torgersen, who has served the university with distinction for three decades in a variety of capacities. The award goes to a player who shows a commitment to hard work and great effort every time he takes the field): Sean Glennon

Williams - Moss Award (named in honor of John E. Williams, a former Dean of the College, and Joseph S. Moss, a former player and coach at Tech. The award goes to the player who demonstrates the highest quality of leadership and character): Brett Warren

Paul Frederick Cobb Award (this award is given in memory of former Tech player Freddie Cobb, who was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism in Vietnam. It goes to the most spirited player): Jonas Houseright

Lawrence R. White Award (this award is given in honor of the late Lawrence White, a former Tech linebacker who excelled in the weight room and was a positive role model for all Tech football players. It is given to the team's most outstanding strength and conditioning athlete): Devin Perez

Wes Worsham Award (named for long-time Tech supporter Wes Worsham, this award is given to a player who exceeds expectations and surprises everyone with his performance): Purnell Sturdivant

Edward G. Ferrell Award (this award is given in honor of the late Eddie Ferrell, whose hard work, sense of humor, devotion and unselfishness touched thousands of athletes during his 28-year career as a trainer at Tech. It is given to the player who best exemplifies hard work and unselfishness): Cory Holt

Outstanding Senior Award: Orion Martin

Hey fans, will you be around on Saturday for the men’s NIT basketball game at Cassell Coliseum? Then stick around for Disco Night at English Field as the Tech baseball team hosts No. 3 Georgia Tech at 5:30 p.m.

The 70s music will be spinning all game long as the Hokies break out their retro throwback jerseys (think Houston Astros circa 1975) for the contest. In addition, the first 200 fans to the marketing table will receive a free Hokies Old School T-shirt.

Don’t miss out on the fun!

Tech head coach Frank Beamer will be the grand marshal of the Food City 500 to be held Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Beamer also is scheduled to hop behind the wheel of a race car for the first time as part of the celebrity heat races for the Scotts Saturday Night Special on Saturday night. Other celebrities include Terry Bowden, David Akers (Philadelphia Eagles kicker), Mike Compton (former New England Patriots player) and others. Former car owners and two of the top crew chiefs of all time, Andy Petree and Ray Evernham, now ESPN race analysts, as well as Brad Daugherty, a former No. 1 pick in the NBA draft and retired all-star player with the Cleveland Cavaliers, will be part of the festivities.

The celebrities will run 15-lap or 10-minute heats to help determine the starting spots of their pro driver teammates, who then will run 35 laps. That field includes Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Cale Yarborough and Jack Ingram.

The winning “team” is guaranteed $25,000 for their charities and a total of $10,000 will go to the charity or charities of the second-place duo. Every other team will get $5,000 for their charities. Team pairings will be announced at a later time.

For more information, please check out the Bristol Motor Speedway's Web site.

Click here to view the entire National Invitational Tournament bracket and look at the Hokies' potential road to Madison Square Garden.

The Virginia Tech baseball and softball teams each host an ACC series this weekend, and each will feature some free stuff for fans in attendance!

The first 300 fans to the softball team’s double-header with N.C. State at noon on Saturday will receive a VT ACC Championship T-shirt. There will also be posters and schedule magnets available,

It is also First Responders Day at English Field on Saturday when the baseball team takes on No. 1 North Carolina. More information will be available about the event, but the first 200 fans will receive a VT thermal mug.

Then come back to Tech Softball Park on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the series finale to receive a free set of VT eye black.

Visit the promotions page for more information.

It was learned on March 4 that starting center fielder and team captain Sean Ryan was lost for the remainder of the baseball season with a broken hamate bone in his left hand. He is scheduled for season-ending surgery on March 6 to remove a piece of the bone.

“This is a tough loss because Sean is our most experienced player in the ACC,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete Hughes said. “He was really starting to have some success – he was hitting .450 and he was really starting to feel good about himself. He can defend gap-to-gap in the outfield, and he gives us speed in the top of the order. We’re just lucky that the outfield is our deepest position.”

The hamate is a hook-shaped bone at the base of the fourth and fifth metacarpals in the palm of the hand. When broken, pain is aggravated by gripping, so swinging a bat was going to be a tough task for the senior from Ashburn, Va.

Ryan suffered the injury while swinging through a pitch in the East Tennessee State game on Feb. 24. He sat out the next four games (aside from pinch-running duty against Bucknell on Feb. 28) before the fracture was confirmed.

Ryan started the season’s first four games and had racked up nine hits, nine runs scored, six runs batted in and four doubles. He will likely gain a fifth-year of eligibility should he choose to apply for it.

The entry sheets have been sent in. The pre-seeds will be done soon and the brackets will be set Friday night. Things are rolling along smoothly as Virginia Tech prepares to host the 2009 ACC Wrestling Championships Saturday at Cassell Coliseum. While a full preview and the brackets will be available by Friday night, here are a few links to keep in mind for Saturday.

The main ACC Championship page can be found here.

Live brackets, which will be updated within minutes of the completion of a match, can be found off that page, or directly at this link.

ACC Select coverage will begin at 1 p.m., for the semifinals and will continue for the rest of the day.

Doors will open at 10 a.m., on Saturday and action begins at 11 o'clock. Tickets will be on sale at the door only and fans will be allowed re-entry with wristbands they will receive when they buy their ticket.

Here are some comments from Tech head coach Seth Greenberg that came from Monday morning’s ACC coaches’ teleconference:

What did you do against UNC in the ACC tournament game that you want to duplicate?:
“When you play North Carolina, you’ve got to take them out of transition. You’ve got to defend the post early and efficiently. You’ve got to make sure you limit the catch-and-shoot’s for [Wayne] Ellington. That sounds like an easy blueprint, but it’s difficult to make happen. You’re not going to trade baskets and beat North Carolina.”

On UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough:
“He’s a special player, not just for his talent, but for his spirit. There are few players to have played this game that play as hard and as consistently as he does. He waits for you to take a play off and takes advantage of the opportunity.”

On Jeff Allen’s penchant for foul trouble:
“You want him to eliminate those foolish fouls, and if he’s going to commit a foul, then make sure it’s a foul. I think he could have a little bit better focus defensively at times. The other day, he got two offensive fouls. That has nothing to do with being aggressive defensively.”

On UNC’s Danny Green:
“Danny’s a very complete player. He defends and he can score  the basketball. He’s long. He rebounds his position. Obviously, he’s got a great two-step – he’s a tremendous dancer. The guy is very complete. He’s just a very good basketball player. You don’t put him in a small box. He does a lot of different things to affect a game.”

On Danny Green’s dancing (he dances before every game):
“He does all that dancing. He’s obviously auditioning for Dancing with the Stars. I think he’s better than Emmitt [Smith]. But I don’t know if he could beat Shaq.”

On the strength of the league:
“I don’t know how you guys [the media] are going to pick an all-league team. There are just two many good players. On the perimeter, especially. The game starts with the guards at the college level. There are so many good, experienced perimeter players in this league who understand what it takes and who put their teams in position to win. Vasquez is a great example. He has the wherewithal and the energy to put a team on his shoulders.”

On whether last year’s performance against UNC gave the Hokies confidence heading into this upcoming game:
“We’re confident going into every game. If you don’t play to win in this league, you may as well not play. We play a great schedule against great teams, and our guys expect to win just like the other team’s guys expect to win. We’ve got to do more things at the end of a game to find a way to finish and close out close games. We’ve had opportunities against great teams. Carolina is probably the best of the best, but our guys will go into this one like they do any other game. This is what we have to do to win – let’s go make it happen.”

Those fans wishing to brave the snow on Sunday can come out to the women's tennis match at Burrows/Burleson Tennis Center at noon against ACC foe Maryland and receive a free tennis racquet keychain!

Rather have a Virginia Tech hat? Then be one of the first to Thompson Field on Tuesday to see the Hokie lacrosse team aim for its second straight win when it takes on Vanderbilt at 4 p.m.!