Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 6 | June 2018

inside.hokiesports.com 31 Hokies T he Virginia Tech women’s soccer team just missed on an NCAA Championship bid, and the season could have been much better if not for five ties. Despite the disappointment, the Hokies and head coach Chugger Adair found a lot to be happy about in the play of Alani Johnson. The forward started all 17 games in which she played this past fall, and she led the Hokies, both statistically and from a leadership perspective. Johnson paced Tech with a team-best four goals and led the squad with eight points. Her three game- winning goals and 20 shots on goal also were team bests. Two of Johnson’s game-winning goals came in the first four games of the season. Her shot from the left side in the second overtime went in and helped Tech record a 1-0 victory in the season opener versus San Diego. Less than 10 days later, she scored another game winner, taking a pass from Madi Conyers and putting it in the back of the net early in a game against Georgia. Tech’s defense made it stand, as the Hokies upset the Bulldogs 1-0 at Thompson Field. Johnson’s four goals gave her 24 for her career, and she finished her time in Blacksburg with seven game winners. At the conclusion of the academic year, she was named the team MVP by the coaching staff. Her production and experience certainly will be missed. W O M E N ’ S S O C C E R JOHNSON SR • VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA Alani