WASHINGTON, D.C. - Old Dominion men’s soccer defeated George Washington in the season opener, 3-1 on Thursday afternoon at GW Soccer Field thanks to goals from Lewis Rourke and Jake Lane.
“I thought we were very good for 80 minutes today,” said ODU head coach Tennant McVea. “We created a lot of good chances, and moving forward we need to take a few more of them. GW is a difficult place to come and get a result and I’m proud of our performance on opening day. Now it’s time to get home and get prepared for a good Elon side coming to the Den.”
Old Dominion (1-0) opened the scoring in the ninth minute when fourth year midfielder Barrett Saul lofted a cross to the far post. His pass found Rourke who rose higher than the GW (0-1) defender to head the ball onto the crossbar and into the back of the net to give ODU a 1-0 lead.
ODU added an insurance goal in the 26th minute thanks to a rapid counter attack that began with first year goalkeeper Alexander Aguilar. He booted a long ball towards the halfway line and found Otu Bisong who headed it back and onto the path of the darting Rourke who slotted away ODU’s second goal past GW’s Tim Macauley for a 2-0 lead.
ODU ripped 11 shots in the opening 45 minutes including seven shots on target. Both teams had three corners each and Macaulay made five saves. Aguilar recorded the first assist for a goalkeeper since ODU Hall of Famer Evan Newton did so in 2007.
Jake Lane scored two goals in ODU’s season opening game last season against George Washington and found the back of the net for ODU’s third goal of the game. Bisong lifted a cross towards the middle of the penalty box from the right wing, GW’s defender tried to head the ball away and missed, causing a fight for the ball between Rourke and another GW defender. Both players couldn’t control the bouncing ball in the box until Lane settled it and fired it near side past Macauley to give the Monarchs a 3-0 advantage.
ODU looked well and clear ahead in their effort to secure a clean sheet, but the dying embers of the match proved otherwise. In the 88th minute GW found the back of the net for the first time thanks to a goal from Jaden Dubon assisted by Miguel Sosa. Sosa delivered a free kick from about 10 yards outside the box and ODU’s Aguilar was stuck in between going to claim the ball and retreating back to his post. Sosa’s ball found Dubon for the header and Aguilar wasn’t in a position to make a save making the score 3-1.
Rourke finished the afternoon with two goals in his first start, Lane added ODU’s third, and Aguilar, Bisong, and Saul each logged an assist. Aguilar made his first career start in net for ODU and logged 90 minutes of action while making one save. David Chapman and Kosuke Yoshikawa were the two outfield players to play the full 90 minutes.
UP NEXT:
ODU hosts its home opener on Monday, August 24 against Elon at 6 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Stadium.