Virginia Tech Women's soccer makes late breakthrough in 1-0 win over Loyola Maryland
In the 72nd minute, an audible sense of relief flooded Thompson Field. Not because the on-and-off lightning strikes had finally subsided (they didn’t), but because after another night of knocking squarely on the Loyola door time and time... and time again, a daisy cutter from Natalie Mitchell from the left edge of the box to senior Allie George, who ricocheted her shot off a defender’s legs, then off goalkeeper Brigid Mulholland, before finally rolling into the net, gave the Hokies something to finally cheer about in Tech’s 1-0 win over the Greyhounds.
It was another frustratingly dominant night for the Hokies regarding things other than goals. Tech suffocated Loyola into its own half and defeated the Maryland side’s low block with relative ease thanks to constant switches of play and quick passing between forwards and midfielders alike.
This Tech side was relentless in taking shots. Over the course of the stop-and-start 81 minutes, the Hokies tallied 28 shots, six of which were on target. Yet the shots that were taken mostly left Mulholland with nothing to worry about. These high-and-wide efforts grew tensions within the Blacksburg side's camp.
As pressure mounted with each tick of the clock, players, assistants, and fans became more visibly frustrated at the lack of a clinical strike to push the ball over the line.
While three different last-ditch tackles were made to prevent Tech goals on one end, the Maroon and Orange allowed zero shots and looked like brick walls whenever slightly faced with a Greyhound counter.
George became the ninth Hokie to score this season, once again extending the now slightly worrying streak of nine goalscorers across nine goals in the five games played so far.
Tech launched a three-game homestand on Thursday’s eventually abandoned win. North Carolina native High Point will travel to Blacksburg this Sunday to cause an upset against this stout yet not fruitful Hokie side. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.
