Virginia Tech Women's Soccer Take Down William & Mary and No. 22 Georgetown Behind Dominant Weir
The Hokies Throttle William & Mary 3-1 Behind Anna Weir’s Hat Trick
The 2-0-2 Hokies went on the road to take on William and Mary Thursday, August 27. Last year, the two teams fought to a 3-3 tie when the Tribe found the game-tying goal with two minutes left in the game.
This 2026 matchup was senior Anna Weir's show as she scored three goals in a remarkable hat trick to carry the Hokies to a 3-1 victory.
Weir’s first goal started in the 9th minute. Peyton Man moved the ball to Hannah Pachan, who came under duress from a William & Maryland defender. Pachan passed back to May, who flicked the ball ahead to Eliana Salama with the side of her foot. Salama carried the ball forward before finding Anna Weir racing in space past two Tribe defenders. Weir took the pass and, after two touches, put the ball under the goalkeeper into the lower right-hand corner of the net to stake the Hokies to the 1-0 lead. Salama and May earned the assists.
Virginia Tech Women's Soccer
@HokiesWSoccer
an excellent run from @annaweir_14 to grab our first of the night 💥 #Hokies
Weir struck again at the 11:27 mark when Celine Kampmann worked the ball around the mid-line and found Salama in a slot between the layers of William & Mary’s defense. Salama took one touch, switched feet ,and sent a pass to Weir between two defenders yet again. Weir calmly put the ball over the fast-closing goalkeeper for her first career brace that made it 2-0. Credit Salama and Kampmann with assists.
Virginia Tech Women's Soccer
@HokiesWSoccer
that would be @annaweir_14's first career brace 🤩 #Hokies
The hat trick for Weir came in the 47th minute of the second half. Gabby Ciocca moved up to pounce on a clearance attempt by William & Mary in midfield. Ciocca tapped the ball to Salama, who then passed to Weir. In a class give and go, Weir sent the ball to Ciocca who hesitated at the top of the box, allowing Weir to run under her for a return pass. Weir found the angle from the left side, slotting the ball under the sliding goalkeeper into the right corner of the net for her hat trick.
Virginia Tech Women's Soccer
@HokiesWSoccer
no. 3 for no. 3 🎩 @annaweir_14 with the 15th hat trick in Hokie history! #Hokies
With three minutes left in the match, William & Mary broke through for a score. Virginia Tech failed to clear a high ball with the ball falling to Mia Abbey’s feet just outside the 18-yard box. Abbey faked right, took the ball back to her left, and then pulled the ball back right against a tough defense before unleashing a low blast that found the right corner.
William & Mary Tribe Women's Soccer
@WMTribeWSOC
3 goals in 3 games for Mia Abbey‼️ 2H 87' | W&M 1, VT 3 📊 TribeAthletics.com/LiveStats 📷TribeAthletics.com/FloCollege #GoTribe h
With the 3-1 win, the Hokies moved to 3-0-2 on the season.
Game Notes:
Anna Weir is the 13th player in Virginia Tech soccer program history to score a hat trick.
Eliana Salama recorded two assists, the second multi-assist of her career. She also had 5 shots and 4 shots on goal that forced the William & Mary goalkeeper to make saves.
Gabby Ciocca, Peyton May, and Celine Kampmann also garnered assists on the Weir goal. It was the first career assists for all three players.
Goalkeeper Savannah Sabo played the entire second half of the game.
Letizia Rossia and Anna Garrow had 3 shots each.
Virginia Tech outshot William & Mary 18-8. The Tribe only had 3 shots in the second half, one of which found the back of the net.
Virginia Tech Defeats No. 22 Georgetown, 2-1
Virginia Tech traveled to Washington, DC to play the No. 22 ranked Georgetown Hoyas this past Sunday. The Hokies entered the contest 3-0-2, fresh off their win over William & Mary. While Tech’s Anna Weir has become a force to reckon with, Georgetown countered with their MAC Herman Pre-Season Watch List candidate Kaya Hanson.
Both teams started the match pressing and turning it over to each other attempting passes into space that defenders closed on. Virginia Tech twice attacked deep into the Georgetown zone in the first four minutes only to see the ball out of play off Salama or to lose the ball in a crowd.
The Hokies relentlessly hounded the Hoyas, forcing turnovers and keeping them out of the game. At the 40 minute mark, Julie Tepes forced yet another turnover, but Georgetown fouled her just across mid-field in front of what would have been a Georgetown foul against Anna Weir. Celine Kampmann sent the free kick long to the front of the box that Johanna Bradley got a header on, but Hoya goalkeeper Reiley Fitzpatrick easily corralled in front of goal.
Virginia Tech’s tenacious defense continued to take the ball away from Georgetown, leading to several build attempts in the direction of the goal. Unfortunately,most of the situations lacked the noise to truly threaten the goal or were short-circuited by off-sides calls.
Georgetown was called for another foul at the 34 minute mark that led to a free kick by Hannah Pachan. Looking to go to the far post, Pachan sent it straight on to the goalkeeper, who snuffed out the threat.
The Hoyas really only had four opportunities on the Virginia Tech side of the pitch in the first 15 minutes, and, each time, their possession was short-lived and broken up by the Hokies.
Virginia Tech had another chance after Ellie Robertson broke up an attack and sent the ball forward to Anna Weir on the left side. Weir saw Eliana Salama streaking toward goal down the middle and sent a pass through two defenders. Salama had only the goalkeeper to build, but Fitzpatrick closed on Salama and denied the attack.
The Hokies finally struck gold with a set-piece opportunity. Salama won a corner kick at the 25:48 mark. Johanna Bradley delivered a high-arching ball in front of goal that was deflected and then popped out a scrum. Gaby Ciocca lay in wait on the opposite side and powered the ball into the back of the nearside net for her second goal of the season. A review checked for a potential foul preceding the score, but the goal stood to give Virginia Tech the 1-0 lead.
Virginia Tech Women's Soccer
@HokiesWSoccer
right place, right time for @GabbyCiocca ⚡️ #Hokies
The Hoyas had a chance at the 10 minute mark, but the shot in front of goal was set high over the crossbar.
Virginia Tech almost struck for a second goal with 6:28 left in the second half, when Riley Karpinski and Anna Garrow were sprung free toward goal. Karpinski set a cross into the box for Garrow, who had a near point shot saved by Fitzpatrick.
The Hokies were the aggressive defense in the first half, continuously turning over the Hoya and leading to opportunities. Statistically, Virginia Tech and Georgetown both had 4 shots, with the Hokies having 3 shots on goal to the Hoyas 2. Virginia Tech earned 3 corners to Georgetown’s 1. What stood out is the 5 off-sides calls on the Hokies that prevented them from potentially scoring more. In actuality, Georgetown goalkeeper Fitzpatrick saved two shots that would have found the net.
Georgetown began the second half aggressively, earning a foul two minutes in. The subsequent free kick went straight to Hokie goalkeeper Julianna Trujillo. Virginia Tech immediately counterattacked with Ellie Robertson sending the ball long to Anna Weir who got past the closing goalkeeper, but a Hoya defender was able to knock the ball out of bounds for a corner. The corner was cleared, but the Hokies kept coming and earned yet another.
Georgetown cleared and generated a counter attack that led to a clear shot opportunity that just hit the post, denying the equalizer.
Virginia Tech almost took a 2-0 lead in the 53rd minute when Weir carried the ball and sent it cross to Salama in front of goal for the easy finish. However, Salama was called offside.
The Hoyas responded immediately, moving the ball quickly into Virginia Tech’s zone and taking a shot that hit the crossbar for its second ill-fated effort of the match.
As fate would have it, Virginia Tech made Georgetown pay. In a play very similar to the previous Weir-Salama connection that went off-sides, the Hokies aggressively attacked. Pachan secured the ball out of a scrum and passed ahead to Weir on the left side. Weir moved freely down the field with two defenders tracking her. Salama sprinted unmarked in the middle. Weir struck for the goal, but the goalkeeper deflected it, only to have Salama laying in wait to put the rebound away for her second goal and a 2-0 Hokie lead.
Virginia Tech Women's Soccer
@HokiesWSoccer
Salama's second of the year for our second of the day ✌️ #Hokies
Much of the second half saw their Hokies continue to attack as the second goal seemed to take the sails out of the Hoyas. The Hokies outshot Georgetown 8-4 in the second half, but could not shake the offsides calls that could have allowed them to widen the lead.
Georgetown closed the gap with a goal in the 78th minutes off a free kick. Trujillo made the save and was going to ground with the ball. Unfortunately, she landed on top of a teammate, which caused her to lose the ball. Georgetown’s Madeline Nylen pounced on the loose ball to make it a 2-1 contest with twelve minutes to play.
Anna Weir almost had the answer when she broke free toward the net, accompanied by Salama. Fitzpatrick made yet another stop on a potential point blank shot. Had Weir passed the ball off to Salama, it is very likely that Salama would have had an open goal and a score - another missed opportunity.
The Hoyas became relentless in attack over the final eight minutes, attempting to find the equalizer. They earned two corner kicks, but the Hokie defense held up, repeatedly clearing the ball long and managing possession to finish the 2-1 victory over No. 22 Georgetown.
With the win, the Hokies remain undefeated on the season at 4-0-2.
Game Notes:
The 2-1 win over No. 22 Georgetown is Virginia Tech’s first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 17 Iowa in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
Gabby Ciocca, making her second start of the year, scored her second goal of the season.’
Eliana Salama scored her second goal of the season as well.
The Hokies outshot the Hoyas, 12-8.
Virginia Tech had 7 shots on goal to Georgetown’s 4.
The Hokies earned 10 corner kicks to the Hoya’s 4.
Whereas the Hokies dominated possession in the first half, it evened out over the game with Virginia Tech at 49% and Georgetown at 51%
Gabby Ciocca, Madi Boutot, Celine Kampmann, Ellie Robertson, Julie Tepes, and Julianna Trujillo played the entire game.
Five substitutes (Lily Panataleo, Lili Lubic, Anna Garrow, Riley Karpinski, and Syri Davis) saw action.
See Coach Chugger Adair’s post-game reaction
Virginia Tech Women's Soccer
@HokiesWSoccer
happy to get the result today 💪 #Hokies | @CoachChugger
Up Next
Virginia Trch continues its road trip with a game at Penn State this Thursday, September 3. The game will be at 7:30 and will be streamed on the Big 10 Network.
The two programs have played each other once. The then-ranked No. 8 Penn State defeated Virginia Tech 2-1 in 2014 in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Elite Eight.
The Nittany Lions are 2-1-1, with victories over Brown and Bucknell, a tie to No. 2 ranked Notre Dame, and a 1-2 loss to No. 22 ranked West Virginia.
Redshirt freshman forward Nicole Crane recorded her own hat trick in Penn State’s 6-0 win over Brown last Sunday.
Women's Sports Analyst
I have been a Hokie since 1985. I graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in international relations and received my Master’s in international relations as well, which included spending time in Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.
