2020 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team

2020 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer
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[edit]

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[edit]

Player movement[edit]

Players leaving[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

ACC Media Poll[edit]

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]

Predicted finish	Team	Points
Coaches' Poll
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[edit]

All-ACC Preseason Team

Kristo Strickler, Senior, Forward

Squad[edit]

Roster[edit]

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[edit]

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

Schedule[edit]

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[edit]

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	April 5, 2021	^[14]
Daniel Pereira	All ACC First-Team	April 14, 2021	^[15]
Kristo Strickler	All ACC First-Team
Jacob Labovitz	All ACC Third-Team
Kristo Strickler	ACC Midfielder of the Year

Rankings[edit]

Fall 2020[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

Source:^[18]

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]

Virginia Tech Men's Soccer

[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.

[auto-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.

[US-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.

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v t e 2020 Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer season
Standings ACC Tournament NCAA Tournament
North	Louisville Notre Dame Pittsburgh Syracuse Virginia Virginia Tech
South	Clemson Duke North Carolina NC State Wake Forest
Suspended season	Boston College
← 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer season 2021 →

v t e Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer
Venues	Sandra D. Thompson Field
Rivalries	Virginia
Culture & lore	HokieBird "Tech Triumph"
People	Coaches Players
Seasons	2007 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold; NCAA College Cup in italics

v t e 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
Regular Season	America East American ASUN ACC Atlantic 10 Big East Big South Big Ten ~~Big West~~ Colonial Conference USA Horizon ~~Ivy~~ MAAC Mid-American Missouri Valley Northeast Pac-12 Patriot Southern Sun Belt Summit WAC West Coast
Tournaments	America East American ACC ASUN Atlantic 10 Big East Big South Big Ten ~~Big West~~ Colonial ~~Conference USA~~ Horizon MAAC Missouri Valley Northeast Patriot Southern Sun Belt WAC
National Tournaments	NCAA Final
Rankings & awards	Rankings United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll All-Americans