Hokies Men's Soccer Team Seeks To Start Season Strong

It was probably quite startling when, according to CollegeSoccerNews.com site, the ACC is considered as one of the best conferences in the nation in soccer. That's right. Soccer. So, the ACC is not just a basketball or football conference. Is that #goacc, or is that #goacc?

Brizendine, now in his fourth season, has brought in a very impressive recruiting class that features four international players. According to College Soccer News, the best of the class might be transfer Alessendo Mion, who is ranked #30 by the site.

The website classifies the 2013 as a rebuilding year for the Hokies, and scanning the roster, it is not hard to see why.  With only seven seniors leading the way, headlined by goalkeeper, Kyle Renfro, the team will undoubtedly be counting on the youth to provide the needed spark.

According to College Soccer News, they have ranked five ACC teams in their top 30 preseason poll, with Maryland (#3), North Carolina (#5), Notre Dame (#11), Virginia (#14), and Wake Forest (#18). That's a tough group for the Hokies to play against.

The Hokies will open their season with an exhibition match against Liberty in Blacksburg, on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on Thompson Field. Then they head over to Radford to play a final exhibition game.  Then the season starts with a tournament at JMU against Binghamton and Fordham. For a full schedule, visit Hokiesport.com Soccer website.

One final tidbit, courtesy of Hokiesports.com, there will be five broadcasted game courtesy of ESPN3:

09/20/13, 1:00 p.m. - North Carolina at Virginia Tech, ESPN3
09/24/13, 7:00 p.m. – Navy at Virginia Tech, ESPN3
10/08/13, 7:00 p.m. - Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, ESPN3
10/11/13, 7:00 p.m. - Notre Dame at Virginia Tech, ESPN3
11/08/13, 7:00 p.m. – Maryland at Virginia Tech, ESPN3

Gobbler Country will provide some coverage of soccer, as well as some analysis and live-tweeting starting on Saturday before the football scrimmage, which is slated to start at 7 p.m.