2020 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team

2020 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Third Round
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches  poll	No. 15
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 16
Record	7–6–4 (5–5–2 ACC)
Head coach	Mike Brizendine (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Patrick McSorley (11th season) Josh Dunn (2nd season)
Home stadium	Thompson Field
Seasons ←  2019 2021  →

2020 ACC men's fall soccer standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
North
No. 2 Pittsburgh	4	–	0	–	0			7	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Virginia Tech	3	–	1	–	2			3	–	2	–	2
Notre Dame	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Virginia	2	–	3	–	1			3	–	4	–	1
Louisville	1	–	4	–	1			1	–	6	–	1
Syracuse	0	–	3	–	2			0	–	3	–	2
South
No. 3 Wake Forest	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
North Carolina	3	–	1	–	2			3	–	2	–	2
No. 1 Clemson‡	3	–	2	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
Duke	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
NC State	0	–	5	–	1			0	–	6	–	1
Boston College†	0	–	0	–	0			0	–	0	–	0
‡ – 2020 ACC Tournament champion As of March 9, 2021 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source:The ACC Note: † Due to COVID-19, Boston College suspended the Fall 2020 men's soccer season; begins play in March.

2020 ACC men's spring soccer standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Atlantic
No. 7 Clemson ‡	4	–	1	–	1			14	–	3	–	3
Louisville	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	8	–	1
No. 6 Wake Forest +	3	–	0	–	2			13	–	3	–	2
NC State	1	–	2	–	3			3	–	8	–	4
Boston College *	1	–	3	–	1			1	–	3	–	1
Syracuse	0	–	3	–	1			2	–	7	–	4
Coastal
No. 3 Pittsburgh +	5	–	1	–	0			16	–	4	–	0
No. 4 North Carolina +	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	5	–	4
Duke	2	–	3	–	1			3	–	10	–	3
Virginia	2	–	4	–	0			7	–	8	–	1
No. 15 Virginia Tech +	2	–	4	–	0			7	–	6	–	4
Notre Dame	1	–	5	–	0			8	–	9	–	0
‡ – 2020 ACC Fall Tournament champion + – Also invited to the 2020 NCAA Tournament As of May 18, 2021 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source:The ACC Note: *- Due to COVID-19, Boston College suspended the Fall 2020 men's soccer season; began play in March.

The 2020 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team represented Virginia Tech during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 49th season of the University fielding a program. The Hokies played their home games at Sandra D. Thompson Field in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Hokies were led by twelfth-year head coach Mike Brizendine.

The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.

The Hokies finished the fall season 3–2–2 and 3–1–2 in ACC play to finish in second place in the North Division. In the ACC Tournament they lost to Clemson in the Quarterfinals. They finished the spring season 4–4–2 and 2–4–0 in ACC play, to finish in fifth place in the Coastal Division. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Oregon State in the Second Round before losing to the number six seed Seton Hall in the Third Round to end their season.

Previous season

Main article: 2019 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team

The 2019 Virginia Tech men's soccer team finished the season with a 10–6–3 overall record and a 2–4–2 ACC record. The Hokies were seeded eleventh–overall in the 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament. The Hokies won their first round match up against Louisville, but fell to Wake Forest in the quarterfinals. The Hokies earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. As the tenth overall seed Virginia Tech defeated New Hampshire in the second round, before losing to Stanford in the third round.

Preseason

Player movement

Players leaving

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Will Mejia	2	DF	6'2"	Senior	Falls Church, VA	Graduated
Jon Ingason	5	DF	6'1"	Senior	Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland	Graduated
Brendan Moyers	6	FW	6'0"	Senior	Earlysville, VA	Graduated
James Kasak	8	FW	5'9"	Senior	Stuarts Draft, VA	Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft, drafted 84th overall by Sporting Kansas City
Nikal Clarke-Smith	13	DF	6'2"	Senior	Toronto, Canada	Graduated
Marc Hoppler	17	DF	6'0"	Senior	Lucerne, Switzerland	Graduated

Players arriving

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Emmanuel Ameres MF	USA	Palmetto, FL	Clearwater Chargers	[1]
Welnilton Da Silva DF	BRA	Para, Brazil	SIMA	[2]
Jack Dearie DF	USA	Ponta Vedra Beach, FL	Beachside Academy	[3]
Cameron Joice FW	AUS	Newcastle, Australia	Lake Ginninderra Secondary College	[4]
Oryem Kilama FW	USA	Wilmington, DE	Delaware FC	[5]
Ethan Stevenson FW	USA	Clover, SC	Charlotte Independence SC	[6]

Transfers

Name	Nat.	No.	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Mayola Kinua	GHA	8	MF	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sophomore	Elk Creek, VA	Transferred from Appalachian State

Preseason rankings

ACC Media Poll

The ACC men's soccer media poll was released on September 8, 2020. Virginia Tech was picked to finish third in the ACC North Division. ^[7]

Coaches' Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Points
1	Virginia	59 (9)
2	Pitt	44 (2)
3	Virginia Tech	35
4	Syracuse	30
5	Louisville	29
6	Notre Dame	28

Preseason honors and awards

All-ACC Preseason Team

• Kristo Strickler, Senior, Forward

Squad

Roster

Updated: December 10, 2020 ^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK   USA Connor Jordan-Hyde 1 GK   NED Mathijs Swaneveld 2 DF   USA Jack Dearie 3 DF   NOR Sivert Haugli 4 MF   USA Kyle Stenzel 5 DF   BRA Welnilton da Silva II 6 MF   AUS Camron Joice 7 FW   USA Oreyem Kilama 8 MF   GHA Mayola Kinyua 9 MF   VEN Daniel Pereira 10 MF   USA Chris Little 11 FW   USA Daniel Starr 12 MF   USA Andrew Weber 14 FW   USA Kahlil Dover 15 MF   USA Kristo Strickler

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF   ISL Birkir Eythorsson 17 FW   USA Nick Backlock 18 FW   USA Jacob Labovitz 19 DF   USA Nathan Durst 20 MF   USA Landon Ameres 21 MF   USA Camron Lennon 22 DF   USA Mason McClendon 23 DF   USA J.P. Pascarella 24 MF   ENG Kyle McDowell 25 GK   USA Matt Zambetti 26 DF   USA Chris Nicola 27 GK   USA Hayden Kickbush 28 DF   USA Zane Bubb 30 FW   GHA Alex Adjetey 31 FW   GER Jakob Bluemler

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Whit Babcock
Head Coach	Mike Brizendine
Assistant Coach	Patrick McSorley
Assistant Coach	Josh Dunn

Schedule

Source: ^{[9] [10]}

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Fall Regular season
October 10, 2020 7:00 p.m.		at No. 2  Pittsburgh	L  2–4	0–1–0 (0–1–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (55) Pittsburgh, PA
October 14, 2020 6:00 p.m.		No. 5  Virginia Commonwealth Clash	T  1–1  2OT	0–1–1 (0–1–1)	Thompson Field (130) Blacksburg, VA
October 24, 2020 6:30 p.m.		Syracuse	T  1–1  2OT	0–1–2 (0–1–2)	Thompson Field (101) Blacksburg, VA
October 30, 2020 7:00 p.m.		at  Louisville	W  2–1  OT	1–1–2 (1–1–2)	Lynn Stadium (212) Louisville, KY
November 2, 2020 1:00 p.m.		Notre Dame	W  1–0	2–1–2 (2–1–2)	Alumni Stadium (0) South Bend, IN
November 6, 2020 7:00 p.m.		Virginia Commonwealth Clash	W  1–0	3–1–2 (3–1–2)	Klöckner Stadium Charlottesville, VA
ACC Tournament
November 15, 2020 Noon	(N2) No. 5	vs. (S3) No. 4  Clemson Quarterfinals	L  1–4	3–2–2	Koskinen Stadium Durham, NC
Spring Exhibition
February 19, 2021 5:00 p.m.		at  VCU	Canceled due to COVID-19 [11]		Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA
February 23, 2021 2:00 p.m.		at Virginia Commonwealth Clash	W 1–0	–	Klöckner Stadium Charlottesville, VA
Spring Regular season
February 28, 2021 1:00 p.m.		at  Coastal Carolina	W  2–0	4–2–2	CCU Soccer Field (200) Conway, SC
March 6, 2021 1:00 p.m.	No. 13	Duke	L  2–4	4–3–2 (3–2–2)	Thompson Field (250) Blacksburg, VA
March 13, 2021 5:00 p.m.	No. 21	No. 1 Clemson	L  0–1  2OT	4–4–2 (3–3–2)	Thompson Field (250) Blacksburg, VA
March 19, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX		at Virginia Commonwealth Clash	L  0–2	4–5–2 (3–4–2)	Klöckner Stadium (187) Charlottesville, VA
March 27, 2021 1:00 p.m.		No. 5 Pittsburgh	L  1–2  2OT	4–6–2 (3–5–2)	Thompson Field (600) Blacksburg, VA
April 2, 2021 7:00 p.m.		at No. 15  North Carolina	W  1–0	5–6–2 (4–5–2)	Dorrance Field (423) Chapel Hill, NC
April 9, 2021 7:00 p.m.		at Notre Dame	W  2–0	6–6–2 (5–5–2)	Alumni Stadium (203) South Bend, IN
April 17, 2021* 5:00 p.m.		UMass	T  3–3  2OT	6–6–3	Thompson Field (600) Blacksburg, VA
NCAA Tournament
May 2, 2021 4:00 p.m.		vs. No. 15  Oregon State Second Round	W  2–1  OT	7–6–3	Bryan Park (300) Browns Summit, NC
May 6, 2021 9:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream		vs. (6) No. 6  Seton Hall Third Round	T  2–2 (6–7 PKs) 2OT	7–6–4	WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Honors and awards

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Jacob Labovitz	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	November 2, 2020	[12]
Kristo Strickler	MAC Hermann Trophy Watchlist	January 28, 2021	[13]
Nathan Durst	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	April 5, 2021	[14]
Kristo Strickler	ACC Offensive Player of the Week
Daniel Pereira	All ACC First-Team	April 14, 2021	[15]
Kristo Strickler
Jacob Labovitz	All ACC Third-Team
Kristo Strickler	ACC Midfielder of the Year

Rankings

Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings

Fall 2020

Ranking movement
Legend:██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Final
United Soccer [16]								5		4

Spring 2021

Ranking movement
Legend:██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Final
United Soccer [16]	None Released				13	21					25	RV	None Released		15
TopDrawer Soccer [17]	11	10	10	10	10	17	18						15	16	16

2021 MLS SuperDraft

Main article: 2021 MLS SuperDraft

Player	Team	Round	Pick #	Position
Daniel Pereira	Austin FC	1	1	MF
Kristofer Strickler	Houston Dynamo	2	30	FW

Source: ^[18]

References

1. "Emmanuel Ameres". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
2. "Welnilton Da Silva". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
3. "Jack Dearie". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
4. "Cameron Joice". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
5. "Oryem Kilama". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
6. "Ethan Stevenson". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
7. "Virginia Picked to Win ACC North Region". virginiasports.com. September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
8. "2020 Men's Soccer Roster". hokiesports.com. Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
9. "2020 Men's Soccer Schedule". hokiesports.com. Virginia Tech Athletics. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
10. "Spring schedule set for Hokies". hokiesports.com. Virginia Tech Athletics. January 27, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
11. "Tech's friendly vs. VCU called off". hokiesports.com. Virginia Tech Athletics. February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
12. "VT's Labovitz, Wake's Benalcazar Earn ACC Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
13. "2020-21 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch Lists Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
14. "Virginia Tech's Strickler, Durst Claim Weekly ACC Men's Soccer Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
15. "2020 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
16. "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
17. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
18. "2021 MLS SuperDraft Tracker". MLSSoccer.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.

External links

• Virginia Tech Men's Soccer