VILLANOVA, Pa. – The William & Mary men's soccer team twice rallied from a goal deficit, including an equalizer in the final minute of regulation, but Villanova scored six minutes into overtime to pull out the 3-2 victory. Senior Ryder Bell led the way for W&M (1-1) with his fourth career mutli-goal game, while Yusuf Cueceoglu scored twice, including the extra-time game-winner, for the Wildcats (2-0).
 
After Villanova's Zach Zandi gave the home team a 1-0 advantage in the 30th minute, Bell answered just four minutes later. Senior Antonio Bustamante and junior Tanner Shane set up the play off a corner kick, and Bell headed home his first goal of the season.
 
The Wildcats retook the lead in the 88th minute as Cueceoglu went top shelf off a pass from Zandi.
 
W&M equalized just a 1:22 later as Bell once again found the back of the net with just 44 seconds remaining. Off an Bustamante free kick, Bell found space just outside the penalty area and rifled a shot past VU goalkeeper Carson Williams.
 
Villanova had the only two shots of overtime and cashed in the second for the winner. Zandi carried the ball to the endline before sending a cross inside the six, and Cueceoglu redirected it into the goal.
 
W&M Starters - #26 Andrews (GK), #4 Frost, #5 Golan, #6 Kokuuslu, #9 Guidry, #10 A. Busamante, #11 Bell, #12 Berry, #13 Shane, #16 H. Bustamante, #24 Ngoh
 
Villanova Starters - #1 Williams (GK), #2 Nealon, #5 Mellor, #6 Bradley, #7 Cueceoglu, #10 Z. Zandi, #11 Schlentz, #21 Zapata, #22 O'Neill, #24 M. Zandi, #27 Quartey
 
Scoring
30' | Zach Zandi (Villanova) (Assist: Jacob Anderson)
34' | Ryder Bell (W&M) (Assists: Antonio Bustamante/Tanner Shane)
88' | Yusuf Cueceoglu (Villanova) (Assist: Z. Zandi)
90' | Bell (W&M) (Assists: A. Bustamante/Julian Ngoh)
96' | Cueceoglu (Villanova) (Assist: Z. Zandi)
 
Quotable
"Today was a good, competitive college soccer game. Both teams fought really hard in tough conditions. We did a lot of good things, but, unfortunately, we also made a few too many mistakes. We will learn from this and keep trying to get better." – head men's soccer coach Chris Norris
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe outshot Villanova, 17-15, on the day with both teams placing six attempts on goal. W&M tallied more shots than the Wildcats in both halves, before VU took the only two shots of the OT period. The Tribe held a 9-7 advantage in the first half and 8-6 margin in the second 45 minutes.
- The Green and Gold tallied six corner kicks to just four for the Wildcats and scored its first goal of the day off a corner kick.
- Freshman goalkeeper Connor Andrews finished with three saves in net compared to four for VU's Carson Williams.
 
Notes
Monday marked the first meeting between the Tribe and Wildcats … Senior Ryder Bell recorded his fourth career multigoal game and increased his career total to 25 … Bell has registered a point in each of his last five games dating back to last season … Senior Antonio Bustamante registered his second career game with multiple assists … He leads W&M with three on the season and has 13 for his career … Junior Tanner Shane's assist was the second of his career and first since his freshman season … Junior Julian Ngoh picked up his first assist of the season and fourth of his career … Ngoh has registered a point in each of the Tribe's first two games of 2018.
 
Up Next
The Tribe hosts preseason No. 3 and 2017 College Cup semifinalist North Carolina on Friday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., from Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field. The game will be streamed for FREE via Tribe Athletics TV and live stats will be available at TribeAthletics.com.