Hokie ClubMADISON, Wis. – After a grueling 110 minutes of play at McClimon Complex on Friday night, neither the Virginia Tech Hokies (0-1-1) nor the Wisconsin Badgers (0-0-1) were able to penetrate the net, resulting in a 0-0 tie in the Hokies’ first game of the Middleton Sports and Fitness Invitational.
In the first half, Tech collected consecutive corner kicks in the 11th minute of play but Charlie Campbell’s attempted shot was blocked. The Badgers then saw back-to-back corners of their own in the 31st minute, but the Hokie defense was able to send the ball up the field to James Shupp, who recorded a shot just over the goalpost and out of the reach of Badger goalie Alex Horwath.
Freshman David Fiorello then gave the Hokies another late scoring opportunity before the close of the first half, heading a corner kick from Campbell that missed just high.
Both teams finished the first half with six shots.
The Hokies tried putting something together late in the second half, but the Badger defense came up strong, blocking shots by Emmanuel Akogyeram and James Gilson and eventually sending the game into overtime.
In the first extra period of play, Wisconsin’s Jon Rzepka took a shot on goal within the first minute and a half, but senior Brendan Dunn, who played the game’s entirety in net, remained flawless between the posts, earning his ninth save of the game. Scott Lorenz followed up with another shot later in the period but was blocked and the Badger’s third shot went wide.
In the second overtime, however, it was the Hokies who led the offensive attack, as Akogyeram and Campbell saw attempts on goal within the first minute on the field. Akogyeram’s shot went wide and Horwath smothered Campbell’s shot for his third save of the game.
Dunn recorded nine saves in the overall effort, compared to Horwath’s three saves. Campbell led all players with five shots, two of them on goal. Alexander Baden and Albert Alwang each recorded their first shots of the season for the Hokies.
“We gave a great team effort tonight,” said Tech’s head coach Mike Brizendine. “We defended well, attacked well, and overall, made tremendous strides since our last game. I’m very happy with the way the men played, especially being here in Wisconsin.”
The Hokies will play their second and final game of the Middleton Sports and Fitness Invitational on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. against the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. Results will be available after the game on hokiesports.com.