NORFOLK, Va. - #15 Old Dominion men’s soccer came from behind to defeat William & Mary, 2-1 at the ODU Soccer Complex on Tuesday night. With the win, ODU head coach Tennant McVea earned the 20th career victory of his collegiate coaching career.
“We had to grind out a result tonight,” said McVea. “Credit to William and Mary, they came out and gave us everything they had tonight for spells. We bent and didn’t break and I’m happy for the lads that they got a bounce back result. We now have to prepare well for a big game on the road this weekend at Georgia Southern.”
With the game knotted at 1-1, ODU’s (8-1, 0-1 SBC) Ludovico Vicini stepped up to the corner flag from the right-hand side. On the previous play, W&M’s (3-4-1, 1-1-1 CAA) 6-foot-6 defender Damen Burney was injured and removed from the game due to an injury and Hamilton Howes subbed in to defend until he was able to return.
Vicini delivered it to the middle of the box and just missed the heads of Micah Wayland and David Chapman, but ODU’s Otu Bisong was down on the ground. Upon review, Hamilton wrapped both arms around Bisong and ripped him to the floor as the ball was being played into the box. The VAR review concluded and the Monarchs were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute to take the lead.
Alessandro Maldonado stepped up for his second spot kick of the night and fired right down the middle past W&M’s goalkeeper Diego Garciarena who dove to his left to take a 2-1 lead.
Old Dominion conceded the first goal of the game in the sixth minute to Thor Sigurjonsson. Gabe Ruitenberg brought down a long cross from a W&M midfielder near the far post. He stutter-stepped backwards and then inside to deliver a pass to Sigurjonsson who was all alone and ready to slot it home. He received the ball and slid it past the sliding Jacopo Caprile and ODU’s goalkeeper Alexander Aguilar to take a 1-0 lead.
It was a wet choppy night in the 757 and the Monarchs got off to a slower start while getting used to the terrain. ODU outshot W&M, 7-3 in the first half, but the first five shots by the Monarchs were either blocked or off target.
ODU’s first shot on target of the evening came from a penalty kick by Maldonado. In the 37th minute, Jason Purks and W&M’s Alex Garrison both tried to get to a loose ball in the box first. The ODU forward got his leg ahead of the defenders and was brought down in the box, and after a VAR review Old Dominion got its golden opportunity to strike back in the game. Maldonado stepped up, chose the left bottom corner, and calmly slotted it past Garciarena who dove to his right for a 1-1 score.
Nicholas Alves had a chance to take a 2-1 lead in the 43rd minute before the two sides would go for their halftime breaks but he scuffed his shot off the mark. There were five yellow cards in the first half with ODU’s Chapman, Caprile, and Maldonado all getting their names put down in the refs’ book. W&M’s Kai Feng and Landon Cartwright also saw yellows for unsporting conduct.
Old Dominion outshot the Tribe, 17-4 and had a slight corner kick advantage, 3-2. Vicini and Chapman didn’t leave the pitch as they both played 90 minutes in the outfield for the Monarchs. Maldonado, Miguel Menendez, and Wayland each tallied two shots on target to lead the Monarchs.
Aguilar played 90 minutes in goal and made two saves in the winning effort. His record this season in his first year as a starter improves to 8-1.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion travels to Statesboro, Georgia to play Georgia Southern on Sunday, September 27 at 7 p.m. The Monarchs are looking to get their first Sun Belt Conference win after falling to #1 South Carolina this past Friday.