COLUMBIA, S.C. - Old Dominion men’s soccer earned a 1-1 draw in enemy territory against South Carolina on Friday night.
“We are disappointed not to pick up all three points tonight,” said ODU head coach Tennant McVea. “We talked about frustrating South Carolina, and I think we did that well.”
The Monarchs (4-4-3, 1-1-2 SBC) got on the board first in the 24th minute. Teagan Dunne whipped in a cross from the left wing and found Lewis Rourke who headed it towards the bottom left corner and into the net. However, South Carolina (7-5-2, 1-2-1 SBC) responded quickly from a corner kick after ODU goalkeeper Michael Statham mishit a punch and the ball fell into the net. The goal was credited to Alexander Stjernegaard. ODU had two corner kick chances but could not generate a shot from them. USC had three from the 42nd to the 44th minute but the Monarch defense held strong. Statham was forced to make a double save before the half ended from shots fired from Tyler Trimnal at 44:30 and Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez 26 seconds later.
ODU tested USC goalkeeper Filip Versterre a minute and a half after the break after Jago Lott fired it towards goal to no avail. Velazquez-Lopez picked up the Gamecocks’ second yellow 45 seconds later before an ODU corner kick. Dunne got on the end of a cross from Barrett Saul but couldn’t put it goalwards. Old Dominion’s next shot came from Abdou Magib-So in the 69th minute of action but it also was off the mark. ODU’s Mathias Krohnstad had two chances at the death after receiving the ball inside the box, his first attempt was deflected and his second veered off target as the game ended 1-1.
“We had a few chances to kill the game off, but we are happy with a point on the road against a good side,” added McVea.
The Silver and Blue outshot the Gamecocks 11-9 and 5-4 in shots on target. ODU finished with a +1 margin in corner kicks (8-7). Dunne picked up a point for his assist, and the goalscorer Rourke netted his fourth of the year. Watt, Aktan, Randolph, and Dunne all played every minute of the game.
Both goalkeepers Statham and Versterre played 90 minutes. The ODU senior from Stockport, England made three saves and USC’s Versterre made four saves.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs return to Norfolk to play in-state foe Regent on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Complex.