# 2020 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team

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

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
### Player movement
#### Players leaving

| 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

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club |
| Emmanuel Ameres MF | USA | Palmetto, FL | Clearwater Chargers |
| Welnilton Da Silva DF | BRA | Para, Brazil | SIMA |
| Jack Dearie DF | USA | Ponta Vedra Beach, FL | Beachside Academy |
| Cameron Joice FW | AUS | Newcastle, Australia | Lake Ginninderra Secondary College |
| Oryem Kilama FW | USA | Wilmington, DE | Delaware FC |
| Ethan Stevenson FW | USA | Clover, SC | Charlotte Independence SC |

#### Transfers

| 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
#### ACC Media Poll

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.
Coaches' Poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Points |
| 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
#### All-ACC Preseason Team

* Kristo Strickler, Senior, Forward

## Squad
### Roster

Updated: December 10, 2020
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. 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

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

## Schedule

Source:
| 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 | | 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

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Jacob Labovitz | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | November 2, 2020 |
| Kristo Strickler | MAC Hermann Trophy Watchlist | January 28, 2021 |
| Nathan Durst | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | April 5, 2021 |
| Kristo Strickler | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | April 5, 2021 |
| Daniel Pereira | All ACC First-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Kristo Strickler | All ACC First-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Jacob Labovitz | All ACC Third-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Kristo Strickler | ACC Midfielder of the Year | April 14, 2021 |

## Rankings
### Fall 2020

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 | | | | | | | | 5 | | 4 |

### Spring 2021

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 | None Released | None Released | None Released | None Released | 13 | 21 | | | | | 25 | RV | None Released | None Released | 15 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 17 | 18 | | | | | | 15 | 16 | 16 |

## 2021 MLS SuperDraft

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