BLACKSBURG, Va. – William & Mary women's soccer went toe-to-toe with ACC foe Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon. The Hokies (2-0) scored off a corner kick five minutes into the second half and, despite mounting pressure from the Tribe (1-1), held on for the 1-0 win.  
 
The teams played to a scoreless opening 45 minutes as sophomore goalkeeper Grace Lemley came up big with a pair of saves. She denied Emma Pelkowski in the 19th minute before stopping Victoria Haugen's low chance two minutes later.
 
Early in the second half, Lemley was again called upon, pushing a Pelkowski volley wide of the goal. On the ensuing corner kick, the Hokies scored the lone goal of the afternoon. Ava Veith provided the service, while Tori Powell headed home the chance at the near post to give Virginia Tech a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute.
 
Senior forward Caroline Monahan once again topped W&M and led all players with five shots, including three on goal. She had two chances in the 60th minute, but each time Virginia Tech's Alia Skinner came up with the save. The first came from the right side of the 18-yard box, and Skinner made the diving stop to her right. Just 40 seconds later, Monahan's chance from straight on was again denied by Skinner.
 
In the 70th minute, sophomore Ginny Delacruz collected a deflected pass, turned and shot from 12 yards out straight on. Skinner made her fourth and final save, sprawling to stop the shot.
 
W&M's final chance came in the closing minute. Unfortunately, senior Addie Puskar's shot from the top of the box went wide of the left post and the Hokies survived the Tribe's late push for an equalizer.

In total, Lemley finished with a career-high five saves in goal for the Tribe.
 
W&M Starters – #1 Lemley (GK), #2 Potter, #7 Puskar, #9 Sellers, #10 Shackford, #11 Monahan, #14 O'Toole, #18 Kier, #20 Friesen, #22 Delacruz, #23 Frantz
 
VT Starters – #1 Skinner (GK), #4 Gray, #7 Tharrington, #10 Kozlova, #11 Johnson, #12 Powell, #14 Lewis, #20 Haugen, #21 Visage, #26 Pelkowski, #27 Veith
 
Scoring Summary
50' | VT – Tori Powell (Ava Veith)
 
Quotable
"It was a great battle today. Traveling and playing on the road in the same day is always a challenge, and I was really proud of the effort. Grace Lemley had a great day at the office, thwarting some really dangerous opportunities. Defensively, we were happy not to give up anything in the run of play. We look forward to getting to Albert-Daly Field this weekend!" – Head coach Julie Shackford
 
Inside the Numbers
- Virginia Tech outshot W&M, 14-9, including a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.
- The Hokies generated 11 corner kicks compared to one for the Tribe.
- Sophomore Grace Lemley made five saves in goal, while Virginia Tech's Alia Skinner had four on the other side.
 
Notes
Sophomore goalkeeper Grace Lemley set a career-high with five saves … Senior forward Caroline Monahan tied a career-high with five shots, including three on goal, for the second straight match … Sophomore Nicole Sellers earned her first career start along the backline … Freshman Mia Suchora made her first career appearance, coming off the bench.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns to action with its first two home matches of the season next weekend at Martin Family Stadium. W&M welcomes former CAA rival Old Dominion on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m., before hosting Big Ten foe Northwestern on Sunday, Aug. 29, at 11:30 a.m. Both contests will be broadcast on FloFC.