Virginia Tech Women's Soccer Eliminates Tennessee in NCAA Tournament

The Virginia Tech women's soccer team put together one of their better seasons under coach Chugger Adair. The Hokies picked up a pair of huge wins over ranked opponents in taking down Florida State and Notre Dame. Combine that with an 11-5-3 regular season, the Hokies earned the right to host an NCAA Tournament game at Thompson Field Friday night.

Tennessee, out of the SEC, received an at-large bid and a trip to Blacksburg for the first-round match with a 9-6-4 record and the Lady Vols were a Top 3 team in the SEC in goals in 2024, but it was power vs. power. The Hokies have had a stout defense all season long and someone had to prevail in the end.

Virginia Tech scored a pair of goals at the beginning of each half and they were able to keep Tennessee at bay enough to escape with a first-round victory. The Hokies will wait for the winner of the first-round match between second-seeded UCLA and Cal Baptist, which is being played late Friday night in Los Angeles.

Virginia Tech wasted little time opening the scoring when Anna Weir was able to one-time a cross just 1:08 into the game that deflected off a Lady Vols defender and over their keeper for a 1-0 lead. Tennessee, however, responded just over three minutes later when Kennedy Price evened the match when she scored off a cross.

Early in the second half, the Hokies regained the lead in the 51st minute when Natalie Mitchell was able to cut across the top of the Tennessee box and her shot hit a defender's leg and went over the Lady Vols keeper for a 2-1 lead.

Tennessee pushed in the final 20 minutes and Hokies goalie Lauren Hargrove made a game-saving save in the final six minutes when she blocked a shot at the far post to secure the win and a trip to the second round.