Women's soccer falls just short of goal

By T. Rees Shapiro The Collegiate Times

November 16, 2007

Blacksburg, VA (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Talk about tough luck.

Since late August, when the women's soccer season kicked off, the Hokies have been ascending an icy mountain using ballet slippers for boots, paper clips for ice picks, and dental floss for climbing rope.

Their season had more highs and lows and unpredictable outcomes than Blacksburg's November weather. Three games into the season, they faced No. 13 Tennesee, their first of seven ranked opponents.

The Hokies dismantled the Lady Vols defense and won 2-1. After this performance, coaches and fans around the ACC began to take notice of the sleepy team in blistery Blacksburg, and their season was looking to heat up. But it wasn't meant to be.

Tech faced a streak of nine ACC opponents mid-season, and the prowess and prestige of women's soccer premiere conference was accurately displayed, to Tech's dismay. They lost five of the nine matches, four of which were to ranked teams, and tied twice, to No. 19 Clemson and the University of Miami. Their only two wins came against NC State and Maryland. The Wolfpack finished their season last in the ACC going 0-9-1, and the Terps hung on for second to last finishing 1-8-1.

But what Tech lost in points, it made up for in relentless effort, playing five matches to sudden death overtime. They also had one of the best defenses in the ACC with the likes of junior Kim Hickey, the indestructible Kelly Lynch (an All-ACC freshman), redshirt junior goalkeeper Ashley Owens, and the National Soccer Coaches of America Association's player of the week, senior defender, Ashley Kinser. The defense collaborated for 80 percent efficiency on shots saved; their opponents averaged 76.3 percent.

The Hokies suffered through an ACC blizzard that would be melted away in their final match of the season against the No. 10 ranked Boston College. The Eagles defense was saving 87 percent of its shots and slinging over 15 shots per game at its opponents.

Forget a single snowy mountain.

This game, the Hokies were looking at the Sahara desert (3,500,000 square miles of sand) with salt shakers for water bottles and llama butter for sunscreen. Even the optimists thought the Hokies were about to be served a la carte to the stacked BC team, an outright roasting with their home turf as the spit, and to top it off, the match would be their last game as the season - it had all the makings of the last supper.

And in typical Blacksburg fashion, the Sahara froze over, and the BC players couldn't keep up with the speedy and efficient execution of the Tech team.

The Hokies gave the Eagles the worst beating they would receive all season, upsetting them 3-0.

With their season looking up, maybe the Hokies would have a chance at the ACC tournament, despite their 3-5-2 record. But the ACC said no, hope for the NCAA tournament in just a couple more weeks.

The Hokies had finished their season on a three game winning streak, and eight total wins on the season. Two of which were against top 15 teams. While it would be a long shot for the Hokies to get a bid, which would have been its first since 2004, it was tangible and possible. They had held their own against ranked opponents, putting up goals in every game except one, which was against Florida State, when they were minutes away from another sudden death OT. But they were riding on the NCAA tournament selection committee seeing that BC score and giving the Hokies the benefit of the doubt.

But it wasn't meant to be.

The brackets were announced, and the Hokies would be staying home. In all, eleven teams Tech faced during the regular season advanced to the championships, a testament to the difficulty of its schedule. Eight of those teams were in the ACC, evidence as to the challenge of its conference opponents.

Shafted? Perhaps. The Hokies would have had the worst record of all the entrants, and had already lost to six of the teams in the tournament already. But count them out entirely? Hardly. They had continually proved season-long their endurance against their more talented foes. But apparently the NCAA doesn't care for wild cards. Predictability and soaring win-loss ratios are all they see.

But what's the fun in that?

Next season, the Hokies will return equipped with all the proper weaponry for another run at the tournament. The Hokies only lose five seniors, and they retain stars such as freshman Marika Gray (second team All-ACC), eight goals on the season, six assists, and sophomore Julian Johnson, four goals, five assists, not to mention defensive standouts Owens and Lynch.

Consider this season a warning, I say. 8-7-3 might seem docile, but after getting ousted twice from tournament berths, and with such a talented and youthful roster, I'd suggest the other teams stand clear and let the Hokies roll through - they'll be twice as anxious. As the old adage goes: Wait 'til next year.