Hurricanes Fall to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament Opening Round
Oct. 31, 2004
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The University of Miami was knocked out of the first round of 2004 ACC Women’s Soccer Championships by Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon, allowing a pair of second period goals to fall to the Hokies 2-0 in Blacksburg, Va.
With the loss, the Hurricanes conclude the season with an overall record of 3-13-0 while posting an overall mark of 1-8-0 in conference play in their first season as members of the ACC. The Hokies improve to 11-7-0 overall on the year and will go on to play in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
The two schools battled through the first period, combining for 11 total shots in the opening half. Tech would out-shoot the Hurricanes seven-to-four while firing four shots on goal compared to Miami’s two through the first 45 minutes, but both teams headed into the intermission scoreless.
The Hurricanes came out strong in the second period led by Julie Brooks, Chelsea Garner and Andrea Radice, who each recorded at least one shot through the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Garner fired two shots on goal, but was denied by Virginia Tech goalkeeper Mallory Soldner.
The Hokies would break the deadlock in the 60th minute when Ashley Stoutland footed a cross from the left side of the box by teammate Shannon Poach and found the back of the net past UM keeper Alex Alford.
Shortly over ten minutes later, Virginia Tech’s Ashley Stinson added an insurance goal for the Hokies, scoring on an assists from teammate Kristen Verbit to put the Hokies up 2-0 at the 70:18 mark.
In the final 19 minutes of play, the Hurricanes aggressively attacked the net recording five shots but were unsuccessful as time expired.
Alford recorded nine saves in net for the Hurricanes, tying her career-high, while the Hokies’ Soldner fended off seven UM shots to earn the win.
