# 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team

The 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies men's soccer team represented Virginia Tech during the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 47th 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 tenth year head coach Mike Brizendine.

## Background

The 2017 Virginia Tech men's soccer team finished the season with a 10–10–0 overall record and a 3–5–0 ACC record. The Hokies were seeded ninth–overall in the 2017 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament. The Hokies won their first round match up against NC State, but fell to eventual champions Wake Forest in the second round. The Hokies earned an at-large bid into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Virginia Tech defeated Air Force in the first round, before losing to Michigan State in the second round.
At the end of the season, one Hokie men's soccer player was selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft: Ben Lungaard.

## Player movement
### Players leaving

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Morten Lamps | 0 | GK | 6'2" | 185 | Senior | Flensburg, GER | Graduated |
| Ben Lungaard | 1 | GK | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Greenville, DE | Declared for the 2018 MLS SuperDraft; selected 21st overall by Columbus Crew SC |
| Collin Verfurth | 3 | MF/DF | 6'4" | 185 | Senior | Ashburn, VA | Graduated |
| Elias Tamburini | 9 | DF | 5'10" | 170 | Senior | Helsinki, FIN | Graduated |
| Marcelo Acuna | 11 | FW | 6'2" | 180 | Senior | San José, CRC | Graduated |
| Matt Dudon | 19 | DF | 5'11" | 175 | Senior | Dayton, OH | Graduated |
| Rodrigo Zampieri | 20 | DF | 6'0" | 170 | Senior | São Sebastião do Paraíso, BRA | Graduated |
| Gino Rossi | 22 | FW | 6'0" | 170 | Senior | Schenectady, NY | Graduated |
| Forrest White | 23 | MF | 6'0" | 165 | Senior | Crozet, VA | Graduated |

### Players arriving

The Hokies announced the signing of nine players on February 8, 2018. The Hokies announced two more signings on March 17, 2018.
| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| David Alm DF | SWE | Boo, SWE | Hammarby IF | N/A |
| Nicholas Blacklock FW | USA | Wade, PA | Philadelphia Union | |
| Kahlil Dover FW | USA | Reston, VA | Braddock Road YC | |
| Nathan Durst DF | USA | Ashburn, VA | Loudoun Soccer Club | |
| Sivert Haugli DF | NOR | Oslo, NOR | Baerum SK | N/A |
| Vincent Jackson FW | USA | Southfield, MI | Michigan Wolves Crew Soccer Club | |
| Connor Jordan-Hyde GK | USA | Kansas City, KS | Sporting Kansas City Academy | N/A |
| Daniel Seungmin Kang FW | USA | Fairfax, VA | Braddock Road YC Academy | |
| Christopher Little MF | USA | Ashburn, VA | Loudoun Soccer Club | |
| Evans Moyo MF | USA | Round Hill, VA | Loudoun Soccer Club | N/A |
| Esteban Gonzales Rivera DF | CRC | San José, CRC | Universidad Hispanoamericana | N/A |
| Mathjis Swaneveld GK | NED | Schoonhoven, NED | CVV de Jodan Boys | N/A |

## Squad
### Roster

Updated: August 23, 2018
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 | Will Mejia |
| 3 | DF | NOR | Sivert Haugli |
| 4 | DF | SWE | David Alm |
| 5 | DF | ISL | Jon Ingason |
| 6 | FW | USA | Brendan Moyers |
| 7 | FW | USA | Nico Quashie |
| 8 | FW | USA | James Kasak |
| 9 | MF | USA | David Sanz |
| 10 | MF | USA | Chris Little |
| 11 | FW | USA | Arion Sobers-Assue |
| 12 | MF | FIN | Emil Koho |
| 13 | DF | CAN | Nikal Clarke-Smith |
| 14 | FW | USA | Kahlil Dover |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | USA | Kristo Strickler |
| 16 | MF | USA | Rory Slevin |
| 17 | DF | SUI | Marc Hoppler |
| 18 | MF | KOR | Daniel Kang |
| 19 | DF | USA | Nathan Durst |
| 20 | MF | CRC | Esteban Gonzalez |
| 21 | MF | USA | Camron Lennon |
| 22 | FW | USA | Vincent Jackson II |
| 23 | FW | USA | Evans Moyo |
| 24 | MF | FIN | Justus Kauppinen |
| 25 | GK | USA | Charles Filby |
| 27 | GK | USA | Hayden Kickbush |
| 28 | FW | CRC | Sebastian Rodriguez |
| 30 | FW | FRA | Gaetan Roux |
| 31 | FW | GER | Jakob Bluemler |

## Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic director | Whit Babcock |
| Head coach | Mike Brizendine |
| Assistant coach | Jeff Kinney |
| Assistant coach | Patrick McSorley |
| Volunteer Assistant Coach | Kyle Renfro |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 11* 4:00 pm | | West Virginia | W 4–1 | – (–) | Thompson Field Blacksburg, VA |
| August 14* 7:00 pm | | at Old Dominion | W 3–2 | – (–) | Old Dominion Soccer Complex Norfolk, VA |
| August 18* 7:00 pm | | Villanova | W 1–0 | – (–) | Thompson Field Blacksburg, VA |
| Regular season ||||||
| August 24* 4:00 pm | | vs. Air Force JMU Invitational | W 2–1 | 1–0–0 (0–0–0) | Sentara Park Harrisonburgh, VA |
| August 26* 4:00 pm | | vs. Gardner–Webb JMU Invitational | W 2–1 $^{2OT}$ | 2–0–0 (0–0–0) | Sentara Park Harrisonburgh, VA |
| August 31* 7:00 pm | No. RV | at South Florida | W 1–0 | 3–0–0 (0–0–0) | Corbett Soccer Stadium (903) Tampa, FL |
| September 2* 7:00 pm | No. RV | at UCF | T 2–2 $^{2OT}$ | 3–0–1 (0–0–0) | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium (249) Orlando, FL |
| September 7 7:00 pm | No. 21 | at No. 10 Virginia Rivalry | T 1–1 $^{2OT}$ | 3–0–2 (0–0–1) | Klöckner Stadium (2,892) Charlottesville, VA |
| September 11* 7:00 pm | No. 16 | at UNCG | W 2–0 | 4–0–2 (0–0–1) | UNCG Soccer Stadium (363) Greensboro, NC |
| September 14 7:30 pm | No. 16 | No. 1 Wake Forest | L 1–2 | 4–1–2 (0–1–1) | Thompson Field (1,200) Blacksburg, VA |
| September 18* 7:00 pm | No. 14 | Longwood | W 5–1 | 5–1–2 (0–1–1) | Thompson Field (217) Blacksburg, VA |
| September 21 7:00 pm | No. 14 | at No. 18 NC State | L 0–1 | 5–2–2 (0–2–1) | Dail Soccer Field (786) Raleigh, NC |
| September 28 7:00 pm | No. 21 | Syracuse | W 1–0 $^{2OT}$ | 6–2–2 (1–2–1) | Thompson Field (927) Blacksburg, VA |
| October 2* 7:00 pm | No. 19 | South Carolina | L 1–2 $^{2OT}$ | 6–3–2 (1–2–1) | Thompson Field (323) Blacksburg, VA |
| October 6 7:00 pm | No. 19 | at No. 3 North Carolina | L 1–2 | 6–4–2 (1–3–1) | Koskinen Stadium (2,074) Durham, NC |
| October 12 7:00 pm | | Pittsburgh | W 3–1 | 7–4–2 (2–3–1) | Thompson Field (834) Blacksburg, VA |
| October 16* 7:00 pm | | William & Mary | W 4–0 | 8–4–2 (2–3–1) | Thompson Field (324) Blacksburg, VA |
| October 19 7:00 pm | | at No. 16 Notre Dame | W 5–2 | 9–4–2 (3–3–1) | Alumni Stadium (514) South Bend, IN |
| October 23* 7:00 pm | No. 18 | at Davidson | T 2–2 | 9–4–3 (3–3–1) | Alumni Soccer Stadium (302) Davidson, NC |
| October 26 7:00 pm | No. 18 | No. 14 Duke | L 0–2 | 9–5–3 (3–4–1) | Thompson Field (274) Blacksburg, VA |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| October 31 7:00 pm | (7) No. 22 | (10) Syracuse First Round | W 3–1 | 10–5–3 | Thompson Field (294) Blacksburg, VA |
| November 4 1:00 pm | (7) No. 22 | (2) No. 4 North Carolina Quarterfinals | L 0–3 | 10–6–3 | WakeMed Soccer Park (507) Cary, NC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 18* 3:00 pm | (12) No. 19 | No. 14 Charlotte Second Round | W 1–0 | 11–6–3 | Thompson Field (446) Blacksburg, VA |
| November 25* 4:00 pm | (12) No. 19 | James Madison Third Round | L 0–3 | 11–7–3 | Thompson Field (740) Blacksburg, VA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Kristo Strickler | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | October 22, 2018 |
| Kristo Strickler | All-ACC Second Team | November 7, 2018 |
| Mathijs Swaneveld | All-ACC Third Team | November 7, 2018 |

## 2019 MLS Super Draft

Virginia Tech did not have any players selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.

## Rankings

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 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| United Soccer | | RV | 21 | 16 | 14 | 21 | 19 | RV | RV | 18 | 22 | 24 | 19 | None Released | None Released | None Released | None Released | 17 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | | | 25 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 14 |