NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion men’s soccer was hampered early in the contest after a red card was shown to Marcelo Randolf in the 23rd minute as ODU dropped the first game of Sun Belt Conference play, 2-1 to Georgia Southern on Friday night at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
“I’m really proud of the character we showed tonight, undeservedly playing for 70 minutes with 10 men,” said ODU head coach Tennant McVea. “We showed a lot of character and resiliency in the face of enormous adversity. That’s what Old Dominion soccer is all about.”
Things were chippy early on as five fouls were called in the first 22 minutes of action before the red card was shown. ODU’s (2-3-2, 0-1-0 SBC) Randolf was shoved into the opposing team’s bench, and a scrum ensued. The sophomore from Lyngs, Denmark took a push in the back from GS’s (6-0-1, 1-0-0 SBC) Edan Sears on the bench who received a yellow for his role.
Six minutes later, Georgia Southern found the opening goal from Ryan Holmes off an assist from Ricky Louis. One more yellow card was shown to Thomas Helgheim Jr. in the 35th minute for unsporting behavior. The best chance of the half for the Monarchs came in the 11th minute after forward Alex Kryazhev was just slightly off the mark on a long-distance volley at goal.
The Monarchs opened the second half and quickly, two yellow cards were given to Eagles players in the same minute. Ricky Louis was called for diving, and Mitch Picksley was carded for unsporting behavior in the 51st minute. ODU’s Miguel Menendez picked up a yellow four minutes later in the 55th.
GS controlled the tempo for the majority of the second half with the man-up advantage in their favor and were able to keep the ball on ODU’s side of the pitch. Louis scored the second goal of the contest for Georgia Southern in the 77th minute thanks to an assist by Emil Seedorff Sorensen. Two minutes later, Louis was sent off for a second yellow card after fouling a Monarch player driving into the GS’s final third. The call went to VAR, and it was upheld, so the remaining 12 minutes of the game were played on an equal level.
The Monarchs were able to capitalize on GS’s mistake and Kryazhev scored the Monarchs first goal in the 86th minute to make it 2-1. Kryazhev almost played hero and knotted the game at 2-2 but his shot in the box was saved by GS’s Nate Martinez. That was the last shot the Monarchs had in the game as it ended 2-1 in favor of #25 Georgia Southern.
“We will take a lot out of this moving forward and have an opportunity to bounce back this Tuesday,” added McVea.
ODU finished with nine shots, three on target, and four corners. GS ended the night with 11 shots, five on target, and two corner kick attempts. ODU goalkeeper Michael Statham made three saves in 90 minutes of action and GS’s Nate Martinez made two saves in 90 minutes.
Kryazhev led the Monarchs with three shots, two shots on goal, and ODU’s opening goal. Lewis Rourke had three cracks at goal, but none were on target. Adbou Magib-So and Micah Wayland both had one shot with Magib-So’s attempt forcing a save from Martinez.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion heads to Williamsburg for a match against in-state foe William & Mary on Tuesday, September 23 at 6 p.m. at the Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.