Hokies bow out of NCAA final four to ACC rival Wake Forest

By: Mandy Schulz - Potomac Soccer Wire Staff Writer
December 14, 2007

CARY, N.C. – Sometimes the littlest slip-up provides the biggest disappointment. Virginia Tech’s men’s soccer team suffered a bit of a mental lapse early in the second half of its semifinal match against No. 2 Wake Forest in the College Cup, and, as Hokies head coach Oliver Weiss admitted, it lead to his team’s demise in the 2-0 defeat.

Wake Forest (21-2-2) will play in Sunday’s 3 p.m. final against fifth-seeded Ohio State, which defeated unseeded UMass by a 1-0 score line, in the second semifinal held tonight at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, North Carolina.

Just one year ago, the Demon Deacons lost to the University of California-Santa Barbara on penalties in this same stage of College Cup tournament in St. Louis. That loss lingered long after the season ended, Wake Forest keeper Brian Edwards said.

“It really drove us to work hard in the off-season,” Edwards noted. “It’s an amazing experience. The whole final four is.”

Demon Deacons forward Marcus Tracy, who scored both goals, secured the game winner in the 51st minute off of a defensive breakdown by the Hokies (14-4-5) on a Wake Forest free kick. The Hokies, the No. 11 seed, making their first-ever apperance. in the NCAA tournament, surrendered a set piece after defender James Shupp was given a yellow just outside his team’s penalty area. Sam Cronin stepped up and sent a curving ball inside the six. Tracy sprung into the air and executed a textbook snap header that left Hokies keeper Alexander Baden frozen as he watched the ball streak in at the near post.

While Tracy’s athleticism in attacking the ball was impressive, it turned out to be more effort required, as he had unknowingly lost his mark to a pick set by one of his teammates. Even so, Weiss noted, Tracy wasn’t marked from the beginning – and the Demon Deacons were too strong to not take advantage of that opportunity.

“One or two things didn’t go our way,” Weiss said. “We lost our mark and didn’t pay attention to the little details.”

After a back-and-forth first half, Wake Forest came out charging and spent most of the first 15 minutes in the Hokies’ defensive third. And, after the first goal, Weiss was forced to tinker with his team strategy to get back into the match, while the Demon Deacons continued to press.

“They don’t have to make a lot of adjustments because they can impress their style of play,” Weiss said.

Wake Forest’s final tally came from crafty combination play inside the penalty area. Tracy won a header near the PK spot, which sent the ball to Zack Schilawski. While backpedaling, Schilawski headed the ball back into Tracy’s path, where he calmly took it down with his chest to beat a flat-footed defender and finished a right-footed strike in the 83rd minute.

While Tracy appeared to be the standout player, he insisted that it was his side’s intensity that led to his scores.

“That was a matter of the game opening up,” Tracy said. “We were going to enforce our game on Virginia Tech and I think we did a pretty good job of doing that. They’re a very good team.”

The Hokies held a 4-3 shot advantage in the first half and finished with nine corner kicks to the Demon Deacons’ four, but failed to finish.

Just inside the first 15 minutes of the match, Wake Forest defender Julian Valentin gave the Hokies their best scoring chance of the game. The ball bounced over his shoulder to Ghana native Patrick Nyarko, who raced by Valentin and took one touch around goalkeeper Edwards and into the box. But just as it seemed Nyarko was about to tap in an easy goal, he lost his footing, giving Edwards just enough time to get back into position. Nyarko recovered and crossed a ball to Robert Edmans, but the 6-foot, 6-inch forward skied the ball over the crossbar from barely six yards.

Nyarko, the Hokies’ top playmaker and 2007 College Soccer News First-Team All-American, was a marked man, forcing him to drift wide just to have more opportunities to get the ball and take on defenders. He was the most dangerous Hokie all night.

“They took the lanes away,” Nyarko said of Wake Forest’s defense. “They didn’t give me the outside to run into.”

Demon Deacons head coach Jay Vidovich said shutting down Nyarko was a primary objective for his defense.

“When he goes on a run, you have to pay attention to him – and now you have someone open in the box,” Vidovich said. “This was a great result against a very good team in Virginia Tech. Everybody knows we’re very familiar with each other, throughout the season playing against each other.”

In the teams’ only meeting this season, the Hokies rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits before finishing the game in a 3-3 tie.



- Reporter\'s Notebook -

Beating Brian

...Edwards, that is, and it isn’t easy. Wake Forest’s keeper has allowed just 11 goals in 23 games this season. Three of those came from Virginia Tech’s offense when the two teams met on October 5. You think he had a little motivation? Edwards smirked a little in the post-game press conference when a reporter asked about his goalkeeping efforts this time around. Still, he admitted when he was beat by Patrick Nyarko and nearly scored upon early in the first half.

“He beat me to the ball,” Edwards said. “We dodged one there, but I think we responded well.”


There’s always next year

With several foreign players likely leaving the team, you have to wonder if the Hokies will get back. Well, not if you’re Nyarko. He noted that the team lost plenty of seniors last year, and yet they posted the best record in school history. The Ghana native briefly struggled for words as he explained that he believes his team can return. Virginia Tech coach Oliver Weiss stepped in and put it succinctly: “We’ll find a way to get it done,” Weiss interjected.


Marcus is the man

Score two goals and don’t squander the lead? … Brilliant! Pardon the Guinness rip-off, but Marcus Tracy was the obvious Man of the Match, even if he won’t admit it. The Hokies never found a solution for him, and it was his ability to finish that led directly to his team’s appearance in the final.