Virginia Tech forward Tori Powell named National Player of the Week
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Virginia Tech women’s soccer freshman forward Tori Powell has been selected as the National Player of the Week after helping the Hokies post a pair of wins last week and earn a spot in next week’s ACC Championship.
With the honor, she becomes Tech’s second player this year (Alia Skinner, Oct. 6) and just the fourth women’s soccer player ever at the school to garner the weekly honor from the coaches association. Back when it was the NSCAA, Kristin Carden earned the award on Oct. 4, 2009, while Ashley Kinser was the first to be recognized with the honor on Nov. 5, 2007.
Earlier today, Powell was chosen as the ACC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week (full release) becoming the fifth Tech freshman all-time to garner an ACC weekly award and the third Tech player this season – Alia Skinner (defensive, Oct. 6) and Emily Gray (offensive, Oct. 27). Powell was also named to the College Soccer News – Women’s National Team of the Week (full team/release) and the TopDrawer Soccer Team of the week (full team/release) for her efforts last week.
In a must-win game at Wake Forest, Powell opened the night’s scoring in the 10th minute after forcing a turnover deep in Wake territory and burying a 14-yard strike. A 1-1 tie out of the locker rooms, she assisted on the Hokies second of the game just 2:33 after the break to give her team the lead again. She tracked down her own rebounded shot then slipped a ball across the mouth of the goal to Gray, who put it away.
After falling behind 3-2, Powell followed up Allyson Brown’s game-tying goal (77:49) with her second of the night just six minutes later to finish off a five-point effort with her first career brace and first career game winner. The play was actually started by Emma Steigerwald, who played a through ball to Powell from the left side. Her initial shot was deflected back to her, but Powell got just enough on the rebound to get it into the back of the net as Tech held on for the 4-3 victory.
The Haymarket, Virginia, native then help the Hokies to a 3-0 win at Boston College Sunday, assisting on the team’s second goal – her third straight game with a point – to complete a six-point week. Tech is 5-0 when Powell records a point and she’s registered all 12 of her points in the last seven matches.
Powell finished the ACC regular season tied for fourth in goals scored in ACC-only matches with four and her 10 points was tied for fifth. Among those competing for the ACC title next week, her overall 12 points is tied for third and her five overall goals is tied for second.
With the two victories, the Hokies climbed into a three-way tie for the sixth spot in the ACC standings as they recorded their first back-to-back road wins since 2016 – at Syracuse (Oct. 6, 2-1) and at Boston College (Oct. 9, 3-2).
The Hokies enter the tournament as the seventh seed and will face number two seed, but nationally ranked No. 1, North Carolina in the third quarterfinal contest next Tuesday, Nov. 10 with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. The entire tournament will be competed at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
