Hokies poised to begin ACC Tournament

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Virginia Tech (9-8-0) 0011
NC State (8-5-4) 0000
  • Dail Soccer Stadium - 800

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech men’s soccer team will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to face NC State in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

The Hokies (8-8, 3-5), Nine seed
Tech is coming off of a big win Friday night at Pitt, blanking the Panthers 3-0. Marcelo Acuna got the Hokies on the board in the 22nd minute with a headed goal coming from an Gaetan Roux cross from the corner flag.

In the second half, Acuna doubled the Hokies’ advantage with a solo goal beginning at the halfway line, skipping past defenders and culminating with a half volley into the back of the net. Brendan Moyers added a third goal late and Ben Lundgaard made four saves, keeping the clean sheet, his fourth of the season.

Acuna is tied atop the ACC with 11 goals on the season and his five game-winners stand alone.

Lundgaard leads the conference in total saves and is tied for third in shutouts.

This week the Hokies jumped up to No. 23 in the national RPI after defeating Pitt. Tech’s cumulative opposition’s record places them fifth in the country in strength of schedule.

The Wolfpack (8-4-4, 3-3-2), Eight seed
NC State received the eight seed in the tournament, by way of a tiebreaking loss to Notre Dame early in the season. In its latest outing the Wolfpack drew 0-0 at home against Boston College on Friday night.

Freshman Manny Perez leads the Wolfpack in scoring with five goals and four assists, for a total of 14 points. Last week he was named Top Drawer Soccer’s National Player of the Week after helping the Pack to victories over UNCW and Louisville, contributing one goal and three assists over the course of the week.

In goal, Leon Krapf has played every minute in 2017, owning a 1.01 goals against average and seven shutouts, second best in the conference.

The series: Virginia Tech and NC State have met 23 times since their first contest in 1978. The Hokies lead the all-time series 14-8-1. Tech has won the last two in the series including a 3-0 win at Thompson Field last season and a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in Raleigh during the 2014 season.

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