Trailing 2-0 at halftime to California, the Virginia Tech men's soccer team had its back against the wall in what was a huge game for seeding purposes for the ACC Tournament. The Hokies mounted a big second-half comeback with three goals for a 3-2 victory at Thompson Field.
Senior Declan Quill scored all three Hokies goals in the 55th, 62nd, and 81st minutes. Virginia Tech improved to 7-3-4 overall and 2-3-2 in the ACC with one match remaining on Friday night at Clemson. That was a massive turnaround after halftime.
Philip Montgomery excited for players
Since Philip Montgomery took over after three games into the 2025 season, when Brent Pry was fired, he has had Virginia Tech playing inspired football. The Hokes are 3-2 under their offensive coordinator, and if there's one thing you can't do, it's discount the effort weekly.
The was never more evident than on Friday night at home against California. Trailing 20-10 at halftime, the Hokies outscored the Golden Bears, 17-7, in the second half. After a brutal roughing the passer penalty on Virginia Tech set up Cal for the tying touchdown and both teams missed game-winning field goals at the end of regulation, the Hokies escaped with a 42-34 double overtime win. After the game, Montgomery was happy for his team.
"Don't get me wrong,'' Montgomery said. "I'm overjoyed, right? Overjoyed. And I'm an emotional person, so I'm going to keep that part of it. But this has always been about those young men in that locker room and the way they have fought through everything. And that's what makes me happy is to see them happy in the locker room. To see all the work that they put into it, to see everything that they've been through, for them to stay that tight together, to battle like they have, to be as resilient as they've been, and then to see that locker room afterwards. That's all I need, and very, very happy for them."
Virginia Tech will host Louisville on Saturday afternoon with a 3-5 record.
Men's basketball drops exhibition game
The Hokies men's basketball team played an exhibition game this weekend at Cassell Coliseum and fell, 83-81, to Duquesne. Ben Hammond scored 22 points and Tobi Lawal had 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Freshman Neoklis Avdalas had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Jaden Schutt also had 11. Freshman Christian Gurdak had three blocks. The Hokies will open the season in one week at home against Charleston Southern.
Virginia Tech Quick Hitters
- The Hokies volleyball team dropped both matches in Florida over the weekend, 3-2, at No. 15 Miami on Friday night, and 3-0 at Florida State on Sunday. At 9-12 overall and 1-9 in the ACC, Virginia Tech will host Clemson on Friday night.
- The women's soccer team will host Miami in their regular-season finale on Thursday night at Thompson Field at 7 o'clock. Virginia Tech is 4-10-3 overall and winless at 0-8-1 in the ACC.