For video of coach Steve Nugent's postgame comments, click here.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech got a goal late in the first half and added three in the second to spoil UNCG coach Steve Nugent's head coaching debut as the Hokies took a 4-0 win in both teams' season-opener on Friday at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Virginia Tech (1-0) got on the board on a penalty kick in the 44th minute. After a UNCG defender inadvertently got a hand on a Hokie cross in the box, Virginia Tech was awarded a penalty kick. Kelly Conheeney buried it with no problem at the 43:05 mark for what would prove to be the winning goal.
"There were some great moments in the first half, some great combinations, some great work within our midfield," Nugent said. "But against a team like Virginia Tech, in the ACC, they're battle-tested; they play against the best competition year-round. You can't allow them to get a goal the way they did and then chase the game against athletes like this. All the credit to Virginia Tech. They imprinted their style on us tonight, but I thought for the first 40 minutes, we were right there."
The Spartans (0-1) hung with the Hokies in the first half, getting off a pair of solid scoring chances about midway through the frame. In the 23rd minute, Karin Sendel found Kristin Player with a ball that left Player in a one-on-one situation with Virginia Tech keeper Dayle Colpitts. With Colpitts coming off her line, Player put her shot high to keep the game scoreless.
Just minutes later, Sendel found freshman Ashley Stokes alone on the left side of the box. Stokes fired a shot from near the top of the 18 that Colpitts was able to push over the crossbar.
Virginia Tech had the run of play in the second half, starting with a quick strike from Anne Lumpkin to make it a 2-0 game. After Conheeney sent a corner kick into the box, the ball rattled around and out to Lumpkin, who pounded it home for her first goal of the season in the 49th minute.
Conheeney added her second goal of the night in the 58th, one-timing a Lumpkin cross from the right wing top shelf past UNCG keeper Kelsey Kearney.
The Hokies capped the scoring in the 80th minute, as Kelsey Loupee beat Kearney one-on-one in the box from about 8 yards out.
Virginia Tech threatened for more, as Jazmine Reeves put a shot off the left post and Shannon Mayrose had a shot hit the crossbar, both in the second half.
The Hokies, who outshot UNCG 19-4 in the contest and 12-1 in the second stanza, were whistled offside 11 times in the contest.
Player had two shots to lead UNCG, while Stokes and sophomore Ashlee Wilhelmsen had one each.
Conheeney and Reeves had four each to pace the Hokies.
Colpitts picked up the win with two saves in the complete-game effort. Kearney made six saves and allowed four goals, matching the career high she set against Virginia Tech in a similar 4-0 loss in 2009.
UNCG returns to action on Friday, Aug. 26, when it will host Wake Forest as part of a doubleheader with the UNCG men's soccer team, presented by Sterling Cottages at West End. The women will play at 6 p.m., followed by UNCG vs. Duke on the men's side at 8 p.m.
AGATE
Virginia Tech 4, UNCG 0
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Virginia Tech....... 1 3 - 4
UNCG................ 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 43:05 VT Kelly Conheeney (1)
2. 48:46 VT Anne Lumpkin (1)
3. 57:24 VT Kelly Conheeney (2) (Anne Lumpkin)
4. 79:20 VT Kelsey Loupee (1) (unassisted)
Shots: Virginia Tech 19, UNCG 4; Saves: Virginia Tech 2 (Dayle Colpitts 2), UNCG 6 (Kelsey Kearney 6); Corner kicks: Virginia Tech 7, UNCG 2; Fouls: Virginia Tech 6, UNCG 10.
- UNCG -
