WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Facing a win and you're in scenario, William Mary scored a pair of second half goals, including the game-winner with just 2:38 remaining, to rally for a Colonial Athletic Association Tournament-clinching victory over Monmouth, 2-1, on Saturday evening at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly.
Senior
Alexander Levengood's goal in the 88th minute set off a Tribe celebration and secured the Tribe's spot in the league tournament.
After Hofstra handled Charleston, 5-0, the Tribe entered the contest with the visiting Hawks (7-7-1, 2-6-1 CAA), needing just a victory to earn a spot in the league tournament. After a first-half Monmouth goal, the Tribe faced a steeper up-hill battle to earn that bid.
W&M (5-6-6, 3-3-3 CAA) equalized less than eight minutes into the second half on
Joe Core's second goal of the season. Senior
Nathan Messer served in a perfect-located pass to the top of the six from the right wing where Core headed it home into the upper right corner of the frame. It was Messer's third assist of the year.
The numbers game turned in the Tribe favor in the latter stages of the second half. Monmouth's Calum Fergusson, in the 63rd minute, and Griffin Thomas, in the 74th minute, were issued red cards for their second yellow-card offenses. The red cards gave the Tribe a two-man, 11-9, advantage for the final 16 minutes.
The Green and Gold pressure mounted, but the second goal of the half remained elusive. Senior
Diba Nwegbo had a pair of great chances inside the penalty area in the 86th and 87th minutes, but each chance went painstakingly wide.
The pressure finally built to a crescendo in the 88th on Levengood's sixth goal of the year and his second goal-winner. On the sequence, Messer made his way to the left endline, cutting a pass back to Core at the top of the six. Core fed back to graduate student
Zachary Hosseinian, who played square to Levengood at the top of the box. The senior striker's looping shot found the upper right corner of the frame for the winner.
Monmouth's Ben Zakowski gave the visitor the lead in the 30th minute. The initial shot of the sequence from Kristian Loenvig was blocked by Tribe goalkeeper Danilo Nikcevic. The rebound spilled over to Zakowski at the top of the six, and he finished into the right side of an empty net.
W&M outshot Monmouth, 18-9, for the game, including a 12-3 advantage in the second half. Nikcevic finished with five saves in goal for the Green and Gold. Both Levengood and Nwegbo topped the Tribe with four shots apiece.
Scoring Summary
30' | Monmouth – Ben Zakowski (Kristian Loenvig)
53' | W&M –
Joe Core (
Nathan Messer)
88' | W&M –
Alexander Levengood (
Joe Core/
Zachary Hosseinian)
Staters
W&M - #25 Nikcevic, #2 Biddle, #4 Bradley, #5 Branco, #7 Levengood, #9 Nwegbo, #11 Messer, #13 Crocco, #14 Knapp, #16 Kosich, #21 Cooper
Monmouth - #1 Dymora (GK), #4 Ferguson, #6 Martinez-Sanchez, #7 Zakowski, #10 Thomas, #11 Hatcher, #13 Horn, #14 Jensen, #15 Morandi, #18 McBeth, #22 Lyshoj
Up Next
The Tribe will be the No. 6 seed in the CAA Tournament and square off with No. 3 seed Hofstra in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 3. The match carries a 6 p.m. start time in Wilmington, N.C. The winner advances to Sunday's semifinals against No. 2 seed UNCW at 2 p.m.. Both matches will be streamed on FloFC.
