The fall regular season ended with a bang Friday for the Virginia Tech men’s soccer team as the Hokies defeated the Cavaliers, doing so for the first time since 2005 and just the third time overall.
Outside of an early shot by Virginia in the third minute that required Mathijs Swaneveld to come up with the save, Tech (3-1-2, 3-1-2) and Virginia (2-3-1, 2-3-1) both struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Hokies found their groove towards the middle of the opening half as shots by Jacob Labovitz (25th minute) and Sivert Hauglhi (31st minute) we’re just inches off their mark and went wide.
In the 32nd minute, sophomore Daniel Pereira latched on to a ball just past midfield, dribbled it to a spot eight yards outside of the box and fired a shot to the near post for his first goal of the season. That lone goal would hold up as two saves by Swaneveld and a smothering Hokie defense allowed Tech to keep the lead until time expired.
