Last season was eye-opening for Virginia Tech women’s soccer. Led by a previously successful veteran group, it entered the year with high expectations — and fell short.
Tech started 2023 with a 5-3-3 record before finishing 2-5 and missing the NCAA Tournament (at 7-8-3) for the first time in three years. Injuries played a factor, and it was also in some one-goal games — Clemson, Duke and Pitt — where it couldn’t seal the deal.
As a result, the Hokies head into 2024 with a chip on their shoulder and are excited to write a new, more successful chapter.
“I think last year was a learning experience for us as a group,” Tech head coach Chugger Adair told Tech Sideline on Wednesday. “So I think they’re a little bit hungry, a little bit more motivated than they were last year, and a lot more prepared. That’s been a good thing for us. They’ve come back earlier, they’ve come back more focused and more prepared.”
Tech returns 22 of its 24 goals from last season and 16 of its 18 assists, an attack headlined by Third Team All-ACC midfielder Natalie Mitchell. She had a team-best nine goals, a mark tied for fifth in the conference, which included a brace in a 2-1 win at Boston College on Sept. 21.
The junior’s midfield partners are the same again, too: seniors Lauren Gogal and Emma Pelkowski, who combined for three goals and three assists last season. That experienced trio has 130 career starts in 141 appearances.
“Instead of rebuilding whole pieces, it’s great to have those pieces to build around,” Adair said. “Emma’s a gritty workhorse in the midfield that’s going to do whatever it takes for us to be successful. Natalie’s somebody who can come out of midfield and score goals, create goals, so that’s another thing we love. Lauren Gogal is somebody who is battle-tested who can go ball win, and hopefully she can continue to play make and grow in that role.”
Mitchell, Gogal and Pelkowski are three of the 19 upperclassmen on the team. It’s a seasoned group with great chemistry, one that’s tight-knit and player-led.
“It’s just that sisterhood, the bond that we all have for each other,” Gogal said of Tech’s culture. “All of us love each other to death, and I think having that as a core piece helps us to have great chemistry on and off the field and is really important moving forward.”
Up top, the Hokies return four players who notched multiple goals in 2023. Savannah DeGuzman had three, including one in her collegiate debut vs. Butler, to go with five assists as a freshman. Anna Weir (2 goals, 2 assists) was a dynamic rookie as well.
Senior Sophie Maltese (9 goals, 4 assists in career) is the veteran of the bunch while junior Taylor Price is healthy again after missing the final eight games of last season due to injury. The Ashburn, Va., product scored just twice in ‘23 — a brace at Northwestern on Sept. 10 — but was a freshman phenom in 2022 with eight goals and three assists.
Expect Wisconsin transfer Sarah Rosenbaum to play a role as well. The sophomore was originally recruited by Tech out of high school and picked the program the second time around. A Fredericksburg native, her first collegiate goal was a game-winner for the Badgers with eight seconds remaining in a 1-0 victory at Illinois on Oct. 12.
“We’ve got kids that can score goals coming back,” Adair said. “... We like to have multiple kids that can score a number of goals for us, so that’s important that they can all kind of be firing on the same speed and working off one another. You’ll see Sam in some different spots, you’ll see Natalie coming in out of the midfield. Taylor Price has been hungry to score goals, and she just scored a couple already in the scrimmages, which has been good.
“And then Anna Weir has created and scored, and Sarah Rosenbaum … and Sophie as well. Trying to find the right system that’s going to allow each of those players to come out and be dangerous is something we’ve been working on.”
Things look different at the back, however. Four-year starting goalkeeper Alia Skinner departed, meaning it’s an open competition. Senior Lauren Hargrove is experienced — she had six shutouts in 2022 when she played the majority of the season for the injured Skinner — while Tech added Mikki Easter from Marquette through the transfer portal. The graduate student has 44 starts and 3,825 minutes in her career. They’ll likely battle it out for the starting spot with sophomore Savannah Sabo and senior Mallory Mizelle behind them.
Meanwhile, senior outside backs Eden Skyers (left) and Allie George (right) anchor the defense after starting every game last season. There’s also senior Aino Vuorinen, an extremely versatile option with six career assists who can play multiple positions and slide up into the midfield.
Sandwiched in between Skyers and George at center back will be a mix of players, from sophomore Kylie Marschall and junior Maysen Nelson — likely the two starters — to senior Allie Lewis and freshman Amelie D’Agnillo. Skyers also has the ability to slide inside. They have important shoes to fill replacing Victoria Haugen and Averi Visage, who helped Virginia Tech keep seven clean sheets in 2023.
“We’ve got to be able to defend well as a group,” Adair said. “We’ve got two center backs who will be getting their first consistent experience. Replacing somebody like Dori [Haugen], who was a four-year starter there on the back line, and Skinner, who were both important players for us. We’ve got to get that back line solidified in the defensive shape, first of all, and have to be strong and difficult to break down as a group.
“If we can do that and we can be explosive going forward, get everybody on the right foot scoring goals and buying into that, that’ll create some success for us.”
The Hokies kick off their season on Thursday night at Thompson Field vs. Campbell (6 p.m. ET, ACCNX). They won their last two season openers at home in 2021 and 2019, both of which were against Liberty.
“I think we lacked [mentality] in the fall last year,” Mitchell said. “And I just think we’re stronger together right now than we ever have been and I think we’re ready.”