The Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team represents the

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in all

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

men's

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

competitions. The Hokies are members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

and play their home matches at Sandra D. Thompson Field. Historically, Virginia Tech has been one of the weaker outfits in the ACC, regularly finishing towards the bottom of the conference standings. The program's most successful era came briefly in the early to mid-2000s, where the five years, the Hokies earned three berths into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. In 2003 and 2005, the Hokies made their first two appearances in the tournament, where they reached the second round of the tournament. In 2007, the team made a remarkable run to the College Cup, making their deepest run in tournament history. Since their 2007 run, they did not qualify for an NCAA Tournament bid again until 2016.

History

Oliver Weiss era, NCAA violations

The improved greatly with the arrival of head coach Oliver Weiss in 2000. Under Weiss, Tech has made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament (second round in 2003, 2005, first round in 2006, and the semifinals in 2007), the only four in school history. The team is currently ranked fourth in the nation under the Division I NSCAA/adidas National Rankings (last updated Tuesday, November 6, 2007). In the 2007 season, the team achieved its highest national ranking in school history when they reached #4 on October 23. The previous highest ranking was in the 2005 season at eighth in the country. Also, Tech set a new school record with a 15-game unbeaten streak (10-0-5 from September 2 to November 3) during the 2007 season. The popularity for the team and game attendance has increased since the invitation to the

and with the 2006

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. 2008 was by all accounts a rebuilding year, as the Hokies went winless (0-8) in ACC play. In 2009, Coach Weiss resigned, days before the school self-reported recruiting violations to the NCAA in connection with Weiss allegedly fronting application fees for recruits. Per NCAA rules, paying for a recruit's application fees, even if the recruit repays the loan, is not permitted.

Mike Brizendine Mike Brizendine is the head men's soccer coach at Virginia Tech. He has held that position since the 2009 season, in which the Hokies posted a 5-12-2 record. He had previously served as the top assistant coach at Virginia Tech from 2004 to 2009. ...

, a Weiss assistant and former head coach of Bridgewater College, was promoted to head coach to replace him.

Notable events

On September 11, 2011, the Hokies defeated the UNC Tar Heels 1–0 in extra time, making it one of the largest college soccer upsets of the 2011 season. Tech, at the time was unranked, while North Carolina was ranked first in the nation.

Rivalries

Radford

local derby A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...

between the two sides, Virginia Tech regularly plays against the Radford Highlanders men's soccer program.

Virginia

Virginia Tech's major rival in soccer is the

Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer The Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represent the University of Virginia in all NCAA Division I men's College soccer in the United States, soccer competitions. The Virginia Cavaliers are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia ...

program. The two sides have a longstanding rivalry across all sports which translates over to soccer. Generally, matches between the two sides attract larger than average crowds. In the 2005–06 and 2006-07 school years, the program-wide rivalry was called the Commonwealth Challenge. A renewed rivalry competition began for the 2014–15 season, called the "Commonwealth Clash." Historically, Virginia has dominated the rivalry, leading the all-time series 34-5-7.

Roster

Seasons

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Notable alumni

* Kyle Renfro (2010–2013) – Currently assistant coach with

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

* Will Mejia (2016–2019) – Currently with

Greenville Triumph SC Greenville Triumph SC is a professional association football, soccer team based in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The club began play in USL League One in 2019. History The formation of USL D3 was first announced in April 2017, and ...

* Sivert Haugli (2018–2021) – Currently with

One Knoxville SC One Knoxville Sporting Club is an American soccer team based in Knoxville, Tennessee, that competes in USL League One, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. They play their home matches at Covenant Health Park, a multi-use st ...

* Daniel Pereira (2019–2020) – Currently with

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

international * Jacob Labovitz (2019–2021) – Currently with Vermont Green FC * Danny Flores (2021–2022) – Currently with

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

References

External links

* {{Virginia college men's soccer teams 1972 establishments in Virginia Association football clubs established in 1972