WILMINGTON, N.C. – William & Mary men's soccer rallied from a goal deficit and had a couple of golden chances at the winner in the second half, but regular-season champion and No. 21-ranked UNCW held off a valiant Tribe effort, 2-1, in the Colonial Athletic Association Semifinals on Sunday afternoon.
After UNCW (12-4-2) took the early lead on a 12th-minute penalty kick, the Tribe answered thanks to freshman
Alexander Levengood's third goal in as many matches. Off a long ball from the midfield stripe, freshman
Diba Nwegbo flipped a header to the feet of sophomore
John Eberle, who poked it forward into the penalty area. Levengood beat the UNCW defender to the ball and beat Seahawks goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta to the near post to even things up in the 23rd minute.
The Tribe (7-9-2) had a pair of quality chances early in the second half, but Perrotta made two huge saves. In the 62nd minute, senior
Julian Ngoh served in a ball from the right flank and Levengood's header was pushed just wide by the UNCW goalkeeper. Two minutes later off a Levengood corner kick, junior
Sam Golan had a free header that looked destined for the right side of the net, but Perrotta made a diving save to push it wide.
The Seahawks found the winner thanks to three-time All-CAA First Teamer Phillip Goodrum in the 66th minute. The combination between Mason Schuster and Ryan Graham on the right side of midfield led to Goodrum finding space inside the top of the area. His shot from 15 yards out toward the left post was just out of the reach and off the fingertips of Tribe goalkeeper
Kieran Baskett to give UNCW a 2-1 lead.
In the opening half, UNCW got on the board first thanks to a penalty kick in the 12th minute. After Cannon Tootle was pushed down from behind making a run onto the ball in the box, Danny Reynolds, the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, converted the spot-kick to give the home team the lead.
Starters
W&M – #22 Baskett (GK), #2 Biddle, #3 Bozalongo, #4 Bradley #5 Golan, #7 Smith, #9 Nwegbo, #12 Eberle, #13 Shane, #15 Levengood, #24 Ngoh
UNCW – #1 Perrotta (PK), #2 Lindstrom, #3 Gracia, #4 Berg, #9 Cabral, #10 Goodrum, #11 Pleasants, #12 Nilsson, #18 Saez, #20 Tootle, #25 Reynolds
Scoring Summary
12' | UNCW – Danny Reynolds (Penalty Kick)
23' | W&M –
Alexander Levengood (
John Eberle/
Diba Nwegbo)
66' | UNCW – Phillip Goodrum (Mason Schuster/ Ryan Graham)
Inside the Numbers
- UNCW held a 12-6 advantage in shots, including a 7-5 cushion in shots on goal.
- The Tribe finished with three corner kicks, all in the second half, compared to six for UNCW.
- Freshman goalkeeper
Kieran Baskett finished with five saves in net, while UNCW's Gabriel Perrotta had four.
- Freshman
Alexander Levengood and senior
Julian Ngoh led the Tribe with two shots apiece. UNCW's Phillips Goodrum attempted a game-high three shots.
Notes
Freshman
Alexander Levengood scored for the third straight match and notched his seventh goal of the season … Sophomore
John Eberle recorded a point in his third-straight match and fourth in the last five contests … It was Eberle's third assist of the season … Freshman
Diba Nwegbo picked up his second assist in as many CAA Tournament matches … Nwegbo finished second on the team with four assists on the year … Freshman goalkeeper
Kieran Baskett finished with five saves, marking his seventh game this season with five or more saves … His 70 saves on the year are the most for a Tribe goalkeeper since Colin Smolinsky had 72 in 2011 … W&M dropped its first match in the CAA Tournament to UNCW after winning the previous five, including the 2017 Championship match … By virtue of winning the regular season, UNCW will host the CAA Championship match on Saturday, Nov. 16.
