Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer

For the women's team, see Virginia Tech Hokies women's soccer.

The Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team represents the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. The Hokies are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and play their home matches at Sandra D. Thompson Field.

Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer
2023 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team
Founded	1972
University	Virginia Tech
Head coach	Mike Brizendine (15th season)
Conference	ACC
Location	Blacksburg, Virginia
Stadium	Thompson Field (Capacity: 2,500)
Nickname	Hokies, Fighting Gobblers
Colors	Chicago maroon and burnt orange^[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament College Cup
2007
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2007, 2016
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2007, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020
NCAA Tournament appearances
2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Conference Regular Season championships
1997

Historically, Virginia Tech has been one of the weaker outfits in the ACC, regularly finishing towards the bottom of the conference standings. The program's most successful era came briefly in the early to mid-2000s, where the five years, the Hokies earned three berths into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. In 2003 and 2005, the Hokies made their first two appearances in the tournament, where they reached the second round of the tournament. In 2007, the team made a remarkable run to the College Cup, making their deepest run in tournament history. Since their 2007 run, they did not qualify for an NCAA Tournament bid again until 2016.

History

Oliver Weiss era, NCAA violations

The improved greatly with the arrival of head coach Oliver Weiss in 2000. Under Weiss, Tech has made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament (second round in 2003, 2005, first round in 2006, and the semifinals in 2007), the only four in school history. The team is currently ranked fourth in the nation under the Division I NSCAA/adidas National Rankings (last updated Tuesday, November 6, 2007). In the 2007 season, the team achieved its highest national ranking in school history when they reached #4 on October 23. The previous highest ranking was in the 2005 season at eighth in the country. Also, Tech set a new school record with a 15-game unbeaten streak (10-0-5 from September 2 to November 3) during the 2007 season.

The popularity for the team and game attendance has increased since the invitation to the Atlantic Coast Conference and with the 2006 FIFA World Cup. 2008 was by all accounts a rebuilding year, as the Hokies went winless (0-8) in ACC play.

In 2009, Coach Weiss resigned, days before the school self-reported recruiting violations to the NCAA in connection with Weiss allegedly fronting application fees for recruits.^[2] Per NCAA rules, paying for a recruit's application fees, even if the recruit repays the loan, is not permitted. Mike Brizendine, a Weiss assistant and former head coach of Bridgewater College, was promoted to head coach to replace him.

Notable events

On September 11, 2011, the Hokies defeated the UNC Tar Heels 1–0 in extra time, making it one of the largest college soccer upsets of the 2011 season. Tech, at the time was unranked, while North Carolina was ranked first in the nation.^[3]

Rivalries

Radford

Main article: New River Valley rivalry

A local derby between the two sides, Virginia Tech regularly plays against the Radford Highlanders men's soccer program.

Virginia

Main article: Virginia–Virginia Tech rivalry

Virginia Tech's major rival in soccer is the Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer program. The two sides have a longstanding rivalry across all sports which translates over to soccer. Generally, matches between the two sides attract larger than average crowds.^[4] In the 2005–06 and 2006-07 school years, the program-wide rivalry was called the Commonwealth Challenge. A renewed rivalry competition began for the 2014–15 season, called the "Commonwealth Clash."

Historically, Virginia has dominated the rivalry, leading the all-time series 34-5-7.

Roster

As of January 3, 2023^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK   USA Connor Jordan-Hyde 1 GK   USA Ben Martino 2 DF   USA Jack Dearie 3 DF   NOR Oskar Haugli 4 DF   BRA Welnilton da Silva 5 DF   USA Zayyan Ahmed 6 MF   AUS Camron Joice 7 FW   USA Declan Quill 8 MF   GHA Mayola Kinyua 9 MF   JPN Misei Yoshizawa 10 FW   ESP Ricki Vidal 11 FW   USA Daniel Starr 12 MF   USA Ben Fisher 13 MF   USA Carter Hensley

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 DF   USA Grant Howard 16 MF   EIR Conor Pugh 17 FW   USA Nick Backlock 18 MF   USA Willie Cardona 19 MF   USA Theo Drennan 20 MF   USA Ethan Ballek 22 DF   USA Mason McClendon 23 MF   USA Danny Flores 24 MF   ENG Kyle McDowell 25 GK   USA Zach Glesius 26 DF   USA Chris Nicola 27 GK   USA Timi Adams 32 DF   USA Carsten Bay 33 DF   USA Jordan Black

Seasons

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Virginia Tech (Independent) (1972–1994)
1972	George Snead	2–4–3
1973	George Snead	4–3–3
1974	Jerry Cheynet	5–6–0
1975	Jerry Cheynet	4–5–1
1976	Jerry Cheynet	4–6–1
1977	Jerry Cheynet	7–4–1
1978	Jerry Cheynet	9–4–2
1979	Jerry Cheynet	8–6–1
1980	Jerry Cheynet	8–5–1
1981	Jerry Cheynet	10–5–1
1982	Jerry Cheynet	5–10–0
1983	Jerry Cheynet	1–11–3
1984	Jerry Cheynet	8–8–2
1985	Jerry Cheynet	10–7–1
1986	Jerry Cheynet	7–9–2
1987	Jerry Cheynet	9–8–3
1988	Jerry Cheynet	11–9–0
1989	Jerry Cheynet	10–10–1
1990	Jerry Cheynet	10–10–1
1991	Jerry Cheynet	10–8–3
1992	Jerry Cheynet	10–7–2
1993	Jerry Cheynet	10–8–1
1994	Jerry Cheynet	7–12–0
Independent (1972–1994) Total:		193–165–33
Virginia Tech (Atlantic 10) (1995–1999)
1995	Jerry Cheynet	8–10–2	6–3–2	T–3rd	A10 Semifinal
1996	Jerry Cheynet	12–8–0	7–4–0	T–4th	A10 Semifinal
1997	Jerry Cheynet	14–5–1	8–2–1	1st	A10 Semifinal
1998	Jerry Cheynet	11–9–1	7–3–1	T–3rd	A10 Final
1999	Jerry Cheynet	11–8–0	7–4–0	T–3rd
A10 Total:		56–40–4	35–16–4
Virginia Tech (Independent) (2000–2000)
2000	Jerry Cheynet	8–9–2
Independent (2000) Total:		8–9–2
Virginia Tech (Big East) (2001–2003)
2001	Jerry Cheynet	11–6–2	4–4–2	8th	Big East Quarterfinal
2002	Oliver Weiss	10–7–1	5–5–0	9th
2003	Oliver Weiss	14–5–3	7–3–0	2nd	Big East Quarterfinal NCAA Second Round
Big East Total:		35–18–6	16–12–2
Virginia Tech (ACC) (2004–present)
2004	Oliver Weiss	9–10–1	2–5–0	8th	ACC Quarterfinal
2005	Oliver Weiss	10–5–5	3–2–3	4th	ACC Quarterfinal NCAA Second Round
2006	Oliver Weiss	11–8–1	2–5–1	8th	ACC First Round NCAA First Round
2007	Oliver Weiss	14–4–5	3–1–4	4th	ACC Semifinal NCAA College Cup
2008	Oliver Weiss	5–13–1	0–8–0	9th	ACC First Round
2009	Mike Brizendine	5–12–0	2–6–0	8th	ACC First Round
2010	Mike Brizendine	5–13–1	1–6–1	9th
2011	Mike Brizendine	4–13–2	1–6–1	9th	ACC First Round
2012	Mike Brizendine	7–10–3	0–7–1	9th	ACC Quarterfinal
2013	Mike Brizendine	4–8–5	1–5–5	11th
2014	Mike Brizendine	7–8–2	2–5–1	9th	ACC First Round
2015	Mike Brizendine	5–9–3	0–5–3	11th
2016	Mike Brizendine	13–5–4	3–4–2	9th	ACC First Round NCAA Quarterfinal
2017	Mike Brizendine	10–10–0	3–5–0	9th	NCAA Second Round
2018	Mike Brizendine	11–7–3	3–4–1	7th	NCAA Third Round
2019	Mike Brizendine	10–6–3	2–4–2	11th	NCAA Third Round
2020	Mike Brizendine	7–6–4	5–5–2	2nd (North)	NCAA Third Round
2021	Mike Brizendine	11–5–4	3–4–1	5th (Coastal)	NCAA Second Round
2022	Mike Brizendine	3–14–1	0–8–0	6th (Coastal)
ACC Total:		157–166–48	36–95–28
Total:		432–339–91
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Source:^[6]

• A10 Standings source^[7]
• ACC Standings source^[8]
• Big East Standings source^[9]

Notable players

Main page: Category:Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer players

• Patrick Nyarko
• Chris McNally
• Eric McClellan
• Ray Crittenden
• Marcelo Acuna
• Tarik Walker
• Alessandro Mion
• Jonathan Cruicky
• Andre Thomas
• Juan Pablo Saavedra

References

1. "Virginia Tech University Trademarks". Retrieved September 22, 2019.
2. Berman, Mark (2009-08-25). "Yellow card for Tech as university reports violations to NCAA". The Roanoke Times.
3. "Virginia Tech men top No. 1 UNC in soccer". Charlotte Observer. September 11, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
4. "Commonwealth Challenge". hokiesports.com.
5. "2022 Men's Soccer Roster". hokiesports.com. Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
6. "2013 Virginia Tech Men's Soccer History and Record Book" (PDF). Virginia Tech Athletics. HokieSports.com. pp. 4–6.
7. "A10 Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer. Atlantic10.com. pp. 11–12. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
8. "ACC All-Time Men's Soccer Standings" (PDF). Raycom Sports. Raycomsports.com. pp. 73–76. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
9. "All-Time BIG EAST Men's Soccer Standings" (PDF). Big East. GRFX.cstv.com. p. 2.

External links

• Official website