(Virginia Tech)
Virginia Tech shattered Virginia’s perfect soccer season Friday night, upsetting the top-ranked Cavaliers 4-2 in the ACC women’s tournament semifinals in Cary, N.C.
The fifth-ranked Hokies, seeded No. 4 in the nation’s premier conference, went ahead to stay in the 18th minute and built a three-goal lead before handing top seed Virginia its first blemish after a program-record 20 consecutive victories. Virginia Tech (16-3-2) will face second-seeded Florida State — a 2-1 overtime winner over third-seeded North Carolina — in Sunday’s final at WakeMed Soccer Park (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU).
Jazmine Reeves scored twice in the first half and Murielle Tiernan (Stone Bridge High School) and Katie Yensen (McLean) scored after the break for the Hokies, who dropped a 2-0 decision at Virginia in the regular season finale last week. Tech last played for the ACC championship five years ago.
Both teams are assured of NCAA tournament berths. The 64-team field and pairings will come out Monday (4:30 p.m., www.NCAA.com).
Virginia had not conceded more than two goals at any time during the regular season but yielded three in the 50 minutes: Reeves in the ninth and 18th, sandwiched around Emily Sonnett‘s equalizer for the Cavaliers, and Tiernan’s header early in the second half. Yensen scored on a header in the 71st before Makenzy Doniak posted her team-high 15th goal for Virginia in the 84th.
“Jazmine scoring those early goals was huge for us, and the way they bounced back from an early goal against us is a sign of the toughness that this team has,” Hokies Coach Chugger Adair said. “This result was well-deserved.”
ACC award winners:
Offensive Player of the Year: North Carolina senior MF Crystal Dunn
Defensive Player of the Year: Florida State senior D Kassey Kallman
Freshman of the Year: Notre Dame MF Morgan Andrews
Coach of the Year: Virginia’s Steve Swanson
All-ACC First Team
Wake Forest senior GK Aubrey Bledsoe
Virginia sophomore D Emily Sonnett
Florida State senior D Kassey Kallman
Notre Dame sophomore MF Cari Roccaro
Virginia junior MF Morgan Brian
Florida State junior MF Dagny Brynjarsdottir
North Carolina senior MF Crystal Dunn
Virginia sophomore F Makenzy Doniak
Boston College junior F Stephanie McCaffrey
North Carolina senior F Kealia Ohai
Virginia Tech senior F Jazmine Reeves
