October 9, 2014
No. 9 Hokies garner win at Miami
King and Zoepfl score in ACC road win
12F
(9) Virginia Tech (12-2-0) 112
Miami (2-10-1) 000
  • Cobb Stadium - 305

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Goals from seniors Danielle King and Ellie Zoepfl lifted the ninth-ranked Virginia Tech women’s soccer team to a 2-0 win over Miami on Thursday night.

“I was pleased,” head coach Chugger Adair said.” I thought we did a good job possessing and setting the tempo for the match. Three points on the road in the ACC is always good.”

On their longest road trip of the year, featuring games at Miami and No. 2 Florida State, the Hokies began with a match against Miami. The Canes came into the game looking for their first ACC win, while the Hokies were in search of a much-needed win to boost their record to qualify for the ACC Tournament, which was slimmed to only four teams this year.

The game started off with lots of back and forth play, with both teams pressing in the attack. In the first fifteen minutes, Tech earned three corners and Miami earned one, but neither team found the back of the net until thirty minutes into play.

King broke the scoring open in the 30th minute on a surprising scoring opportunity. She dribbled up the left wing far away from the goal and sent a deep shot through the air that curled into the goal for her second of the year to put Tech up 1-0. Scoring on another shot from deep outside, this strike much resembled her first goal of the year, which came against Georgetown early in the season.

No more scoring would happen in the first half, and the two teams entered the break with Tech holding the advantage in shots, 6-3, and corners, 4-2.

In the second half, only two minutes into play, Tech nearly added to their leads on a corner kick play. Junior Jordan Coburn picked up a rebound from senior Katie Yensen’s cross and sent a shot barely over the right corner of the goal.

Following the near miss, neither team looked dominant as congested midfield play foiled possession for a roughly ten-minute span.

Miami gained some offensive momentum in the 73nd minute when Grace Rapp took a quality shot on goal, forcing Tech keeper Caroline Kelly to make the diving save. In the next five minutes, Kelly would be needed to save two more dangerous attacks from the Miami side.

In the 79th minute, however, another quality chance came for the Hokies when freshman Laila Gray slid past the defense heading towards the goal but was pulled down from behind by a Miami defender, who earned a yellow card for the foul.

Immediately following the card, the Hokies added to their goal total when sharp passes broke down the Miami defense for an open Hokie shot. Sophomore Kallie Peurifoy took the ball down the wing and passed alongside Laila Gray before Peurifoy sent a pass to Zoepfl at the top edge of the 18-yard box. Zoepfl took one touch and fired a shot into the left side of the goal to put Tech up 2-0 and seal the win.

Playing keeper for the Hokies, Kelly made four impressive saves to earn her 7th shutout of the year.

Up next for Tech is a road contest against reigning ACC Champion and NCAA finalist No. 2 Florida State on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available online for the match in Tallahassee, Florida.

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