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GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's soccer team will take on in-state rival and the defending national champion No. 21 Virginia Cavaliers on Friday night at Thompson Field for senior night.

The Hokies will honor Daniel Lauretano who has played in 64 games for the Hokies with 37 starts. He has scored six goals and added four assists in his career.

This game is presented by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of Virginia Tech Athletics. It is also a potential point in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash, the point rivalry series between the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. Currently the score for the Clash is University of Virginia 0.5 and Virginia Tech 0. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at thecommonwealthclash.com.

The Hokies are coming off a 5-0 loss at Charlotte when, tied 0-0, were forced to play with just 10 men after earning a red card in the 33rd minute.

Defensively this season, the Hokies have limited opponents as only two teams have been able to score more than two goals and nine opponents have scored one goal or less. Offensively, the Hokies are ranked T-60th in the country in shots on goal per game at 5.86.

Merlin Baus ranks T-70th in the country in points per contest 1.15 and T-57th in assists per game at 0.42, respectively. He has a team-high five goals and five assists. He has a team-high total of 15 points in 14 games. Ricardo John is T-23rd in shots on goal per game at 1.71 and T-57th in the nation in shots per game (3.23) as he leads the team with 42 shot attempts.

The Hokies currently are ranked 54th in the NCAA RPI Rankings. The ACC has nine teams in the top 25 and 11 of 12 teams in the top 54 with the only exception being Pittsburgh at 99.

Opponent History...

The Hokies and Cavaliers will be meeting for the 34th time on the soccer field. The rivals have met every year since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004, where they won their first two meetings with UVA. Overall, the Cavaliers hold a 29-2-3 record against Tech dating back to 1975.

About No. 21 Virginia...

Virginia is a team coming off a 2014 season that, despite finishing eighth in the ACC, they went on to win the College Cup, the men's soccer NCAA Championship. The Cavaliers beat Pittsburgh at home 3-1 on Oct. 16 but overall have lost two of their last three contests.

Patrick Foss is the team leader in total points and assists as he has 9 points and five assists. He also has two goals on the season. UVA gets its offensive production from a variety of players as eight players have scored at least two goals this season while six have at least two assists. In goal, Jeff Caldwell has played every minute and made 37 saves with a save percentage of .712. He has a goals against average of 1.12.

UVA was the ACC preseason favorite after winning the national title last season by the league’s coaches but only return one All-ACC selection in third team pick Todd Wharton. Jake Rozhansky made the ACC All-Freshmen Team.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Thompson Field.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's soccer, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MSoccer