Oct. 30, 2007

Virginia Shuts Out Mercer, 4-0

On a night honoring its seniors, the No. 14 Virginia men's soccer team got two goals from sophomore Ross LaBauex and used a balanced offensive attack to defeat Mercer, 4-0, Tuesday at Klockner Stadium.

LaBauex got the Cavaliers going offensively in the 14th minute, when he put away a loose ball after a free kick outside the box by Chris Tierney. Later in the first half, the sophomore found the back of the net again in the 43rd minute when he finished a through ball played by Jonathan Villanueva.

For LaBauex, it was his fourth and fifth goals of the year, and the first multi-goal game of his career.

With a 2-0 lead in the second half, Matt Mitchell scored his second goal in as many games when he beat Mercer goalkeeper Roberto Cronenbold far post on assists by Villanueva and Tierney.

Nino DiMaggio put the finishing touch on the night for Virginia, when he finished a Chase Neinken cross with 20 seconds left in the game to put UVa up by the final score of 4-0.

Bentley scores two goals as Tech wins at Appalachian State, 5-0

In only his second appearance of the season, freshman midfielder Clarke Bentley scored two goals to help the Virginia Tech men's soccer team to a 5-0 win at Appalachian State on Tuesday in their final non-conference road match of the regular season.

Tech (9-1-5, 2-0-4 ACC) is now 7-1-1 in non-conference matches and is in the midst of a school record 14-match unbeaten streak. The Hokies have gone 9-0-5 since Aug. 31, outscoring their opponents, 38-14.

The Hokies have gone through two full months of play without suffering a loss for the first time in school history. There have been only three unbeaten full months in the program's 36 seasons: This season, Tech finished 3-0-3 in October and 6-0-2 in September, while the 2005 team went 8-0-1 in October.

Bentley took advantage of his opportunity on the pitch and came up with the first goals of his career midway through the second half with Tech already up 2-0. The Marietta, Ga., native added to the Hokie lead when he possessed a rebound off a Jonathan Collier shot for the first score of his career at 53:53.