Henrico's Hargrove shines during 'dreamlike' season at Virginia Tech

Henrico native Lauren Hargrove helped delivered a historic performance during the 2024 season for the Virginia Hokies soccer team as starting goalie during the team's run to its first-ever Elite 8 appearance.

The Hokies had their most wins since 2015, finishing 14-6-3 overall (6-2-2 in the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference). 

Hargrove had the fourth-best goals-against average of 0.78 and a save percentage of 0.79 with 64 total saves. She recorded 13 wins, the most wins by a Virginia Tech keeper since 2015. Among the ACC goalkeepers, Hargrove was ranked third and posted nine clean sheets on the season. 

“Getting to the Elite Eight was dreamlike for us,” she said. “Coming into the season, we knew we had something special, but we also knew it was going to take grit and putting everything on the line for 90 minutes each game to get as far as we did. We played fantastic teams with arguably 'better' players than us on paper, but we just wanted it more than our opponents, which was our X factor.”

The ACC was the most difficult conference in Division I women's soccer during the regular season, and three out of the four teams that made it to the Final Four – Wake Forest, Duke and North Carolina – were ACC teams.

During Tech's Elite Eight game against Duke, Hargrove’s saves were clinical, and she put on a showcase of goalkeeping to keep her team in the running. The game resulted in a 1-0 loss, but Hargrove had five crucial saves.

“It felt amazing to have been able to fully showcase my abilities as a goalkeeper against Duke,” she said. “Despite coming up short, I thought the team fought until the end and did everything we could to put up a good fight. The nature of the tournament is to lose and go home, so I knew I had to make big saves and do all I could to help our team, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to do so on such a big stage.”

Harvgrove played with the Richmond Ivy, Richmond's new pre-professional women's soccer team, last summer, which she said contributed to her success at Virginia Tech. Ivy Head Coach Kimmy Cummings highlighted the importance of consistency from her players throughout the summer, and Hargrove's performance during her collegiate season was a prime example of that dedication. 

“I without a single doubt think that my summer season with Ivy was instrumental in my preparation for this fall season with Virginia Tech,” Hargrove said. “The RVA community showed me so much love and support this summer, and I think that this, in addition to the quality training each day, truly helped me feel ready for this past fall season.”