Senior forward Adam Cristman registered the first hat trick since 2000 by a Cavalier to lead No. 4 Virginia to a 3-1 win over No. 19 Virginia Tech in front of a record crowd of 2,711 fans at the Hokie Soccer Stadium Friday night.
Virginia, which remains in second place in the ACC behind Duke, snapped Tech's five-game winning streak.
Cristman scored the game-winner, breaking a 1-1 tie in the 82nd minute. Matt Poole played a perfect ball up the middle behind the Virginia Tech defense. Cristman ran down Poole's pass and scored from 16 yards out. Cristman's third goal came on a brekaway pass from Ian Holder four minutes later.
''I'm still in shock,'' Cristman said. ''We played well as a team tonight. We fell behind. We picked the ball up and said we were going to get back in this. It's an unbelievable feeling to score a hat trick. Hopefully, this jumpstarts us again as we get ready for the second half of our season.''
Cristman answered Brad Collins goal for Virginia Tech when he headed in a Nico Colaluca corner kick 43 seconds after Collins put Tech ahead in the 57th minute.
Cavs Jonathan Villanueva and Yannick Reyering both hit the crossbar.