Virginia Tech Women's Soccer Stuns UCLA for Trip to Sweet 16

After opening the NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Tennessee on Nov. 15 at Thompson Field, the seventh-seeded Virginia Tech women's soccer team headed west Friday night to take on second-seeded UCLA in Los Angeles. The Bruins are one of the country's top programs, but to the Hokies, it didn't intimidate them.

After a scoreless first half, Virginia Tech struck for a pair of early second-half goals, two minutes apart against a team that allowed only eight all season long, for a 2-0 lead, they held off a late charge from the Bruins for a 2-1 victory. The second-round win sends the Hokies into the Sweet 16 on Sunday night against third-seeded Iowa in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. The Hawkeyes edged Georgetown, 1-0, in the first game of the evening at UCLA.

Virginia Tech needed just seven minutes into the second half to open the scoring and they did it with the help of the Bruins with an own goal. Then, two minutes later in the 54th minute, Natalie Mitchell doubled the lead when she took a through-ball pass and made it 2-0 Hokies with a shot inside the left post, perfectly placed.

Keeper Lauren Hargrove allowed a goal to UCLA in the 60th minute, but along with her defense which kept the Bruins at bay and frustrated them throughout the night, made five saves. This is the furthest Virginia Tech has advanced in the NCAA Tournament since 2018.

With the win, the Hokies are one of six ACC teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 joining Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Wake Forest. All six teams will be in action on Sunday throughout the day and for the record, the winner of the Iowa/Virginia Tech game is matched up with the winner of the Michigan State/Duke winner in the Elite Eight next weekend.