Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 1 | August 2017

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WOMEN’S SOCCERPREVIEW
Nearly nine months have elapsed since the Virginia Tech
women’s soccer teamwatched the NCAA Championships
selection show—and received a blow to the stomach when
the selection committee snapped the Hokies’ string of NCAA
appearances by not choosing them.
Their streak ended at nine consecutive seasons, and while
the months have passed, the bitterness still remains. After all,
the Hokies won 11 games and finished with an RPI of 38.
“It has stuck with me,” Tech women’s soccer head coach
Chugger Adair admitted. “I was frustrated with being so high
up in the RPI and being overlooked. I think that was unjust to
some extent, with the record we had and the season we had. I
thought we deserved to make the NCAA tournament.
“I know a lot of the players were unhappy at the time, and
I hope it stuck with them in their preseason training and
their preparation for this season as well. It’s something I’ve
talked with them about a few times, so I’m hoping they are
as hungry as I am.”
Tech entered its 2017 preseason practice with a lot of
pieces returning and optimistic hopes of starting a new
NCAA streak. However, the Hokies also face a tall task, as
for the first time in four seasons, they begin preparations
without Murielle Tiernan and Candace Cephers.
Tiernan graduated as the greatest goal scorer in program
history. She led Tech with 10 goals last season and scored at
least 10 goals in all four of her seasons as a Hokie. She left as
the school’s record holder in career points (112), career goals
(49), career game-winning goals (23) and career multiple-
goal games (9).
She departed as a three-time All-ACC first-team
selection and was just the program’s second All-American.
So finding a way to replace her remains paramount for
Adair and his staff.
“I think, for us, it’s going to have to be by committee,”
Adair said. “Murielle was a special player, and we don’t have a Murielle on the team right now. We have some other
players who can step in, and that’s what we have to focus on. We need for those players to just be themselves and
continue to grow and make an impact in their own right.”
Adair said not to forget about Cephers’ impact as well. She finished third on the team with three goals last season, and
she started 83 games in her career. But more importantly, Cephers helped control the action from her midfield spot.
In other words, she did a lot of the grunt work, which allowed other players to become comfortable in their natural roles.
“Candace didn’t get the notoriety Murielle got as far as goals and things like that, but she did a lot for us,” Adair said. “She
did a lot of the dirty work and really held down the fort for us, so that others could attack and play. She was a little bit of an
WOMEN’S SOCCER
looking for
RETURN
to NCAAs
After missing out on a bid last year,
the Hokies hope that six seniors and
a lot of returning pieces can bring
them back to postseason play
by Jimmy Robertson
40 Inside Hokie Sports
MADI
CONYERS