BLACKSBURG, Va.— The William & Mary men's soccer team battled Virginia Tech in a gritty Commonwealth matchup in Blacksburg on Tuesday night, ending in a 1-1 tie.
The result makes it three consecutive draws for W&M who are 2-6-4 on the season and 1-2-2 in CAA play.
The Tribe came out the aggressor on the road, in search of their first win in over two weeks. 16 minutes in W&M were rewarded for their efforts with the first goal of the game.
A long free kick was sent into the box by
Ian Krajna and after bouncing off a couple of bodies, including the Hokie keeper,
Aidan Morrison tapped it home to put the Tribe up 1-0.
After the goal, chances were few and far between in the first half for the Tribe, but they were able to keep the Virginia Tech attack in check.
Cole McNally only faced two shots in the opening 45 minutes, making a pair of comfortable saves.
When halftime arrived William & Mary still held their one-goal advantage despite being trailing in shots 4-3.
The Green and Gold kept the pressure up to start the second half, maintaining possession for the longest they had all game.
Morrison played a shot on net in the 47
th minute that was saved, and after keeping the ball in the attacking half for the majority of the next 10 minutes,
Gabe Ruitenberg had a chance to expand the Tribe lead.
Streaking in from the midfield, Ruitenberg took a shot from just outside the box that beat the VT keeper, but rattled the woodwork, and the score remained 1-0.
The Hokies were able to equalize in the 66
th minute when a foul was called against McNally in the box. A penalty was awarded and scored on by Virginia Tech to knot the match at one.
Morrison had a chance for his second goal of the game in the 72
nd minute on a ball played into the box. The freshman made a sliding effort to steer the cross toward goal, but it sailed over the crossbar.
Just two minutes later VT had a player sent off after his second yellow card leaving the Hokies a man down for the remainder of the match.
Despite being down a man, the Hokies played aggressively with the squads playing at a high tempo off of each other's counterattacks in the last 15 minutes.
Morrison had a shot that was saved in the 82
nd minute, which was the last shot attempt by either team in the 1-1 draw.
Both teams finished with three shots on goal, with Virginia Tech having a 10-7 advantage in total shots.
Morrison had all three of the Tribe's shots on-frame.
Scoring
16'|W&M-
Aidan Morrison (
Ian Krajna)
66'|VT- Conor Pugh (penalty kick)
Starters
W&M- #1 McNally (GK), #6 Bozalongo, #9 Caldas, #11 Morrison, #13 Crocco, #14 Knapp, #15 Krajna, #16 Rabush, #18 Ruitenberg, #21 Cooper, #23 Core
VT- #27 Adams (GK), #6 Vesterholm, #7 Quill, #8 Kinuya, #11 Roche, #13 Hensley, #14 Howard, #18 Cardona, #19 Drennan, #21 Uwimana, #23 Fenerdis
Up Next
The Tribe return to CAA play against Charleston on Saturday. The game will kick off at Martin Family Stadium at 1 p.m. and be broadcast on FloFC.
