Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 1 | August 2020

inside.hokiesports.com 41 INSIDE T H E N U M B E R S she also brings some international experience, having participated with the Ukrainian National Team for the past three years. “I think Nicole is one of our most sophisticated finishers,” Adair said. “I think she loves going to the goal, and she’s passionate and excited about scoring. She’s one of the kids we can look at and hope to generate offense moving forward.” Emily Gray, Emmalee McCarter and Molly Feighan bring added punch as well. Gray scored four goals last season, while McCarter and Feighan each scored three goals and had four assists. Adair also expects a bounce-back season from junior Karlie Johnson, who scored six goals as a freshman, but failed to strike in 2019. In addition, he expects a couple of freshmen to make a big impact. Tori Powell, from Haymarket, Virginia, and Taylor Bryan, a Brooklyn, New Yorker, are two athletic forwards with the ability to be dangerous. “I think we have the potential to be very offensive-minded,” Adair said. “We want to have a wide range of kids who can score multiple goals. It’d be nice to have a 20-goal scorer, but if we had a 20-goal scorer and nobody else picking up significant goals, then it becomes problematic. So we want to be balanced, and I think we’ve got that. Having that balance could make us very dangerous moving forward. Not everybody is a 10 every night, and we need others picking up the slack.” The Hokies certainly have the look of an intriguing team despite the personnel losses from a season ago. They possess a lot of talent at a lot of positions, and they figure to be a higher-scoring team than the ones of the past couple of years. But they lack experience and missed an opportunity to gain that when the pandemic ended their spring exhibition season after just two matches. “Culture is always something that is a concern of mine,” Adair said. “We’ve got to continue to blend 10 new personalities with our freshmen. We’re a little bit younger this year. As we see in training, having consistency in their performance and their commitment to playing at a high level keeps us up at night. “We’re working on them having open attitudes and learning—learning the system and learning the expectations of high-quality Division I soccer. They’re having to train every 10 The Hokies’ 2020 roster features 10 true freshmen . 9 In his nine seasons as the Hokies’ head coach, Chugger Adair and his team have won at least seven matches every year. 8 Tech played in eight one-goal matches in 2019, going 6-2 in those matches. 7 The Hokies have made seven NCAA Championships appearances in Adair’s tenure as the head coach. 6 Six returning players scored goals for the Hokies last fall. 5 Nicole Kozlova’s five goals paced the Hokies last season. 4 Four returning players finished with at least 10 points in 2019. 3 Emily Gray’s three game-winning goals led the Hokies last season. 2 Molly Feighan and Emily Gray are the only returning players to score at least two goals in ACC matches last season . 1 Departed goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn was No. 1 in the ACC with 10 shutouts in 2019. day, and we’re pushing them every day. It’s different than club soccer. So we’re trying to get those kids to understand the standards and the expectations that we hold.” The NCAA recently canceled its fall sports championships, and the postseason plans of the ACC and other remaining conferences playing fall sports remained to be worked out. Tech continued to prepare despite the uncertainty. After all, the standards in Blacksburg are high. The Hokies know how to win. They’ve won at least 10 matches in eight of Adair’s nine seasons as the head coach. Yes, the past five months have been challenging, but this program knows how to face challenges and find success. Adair and his staff are hoping that trend continues. NICOLE KOZLOVA