WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Ivey Crain provided William & Mary (2-0-2) women's soccer with a late equalizer on Sunday afternoon at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field, as the Tribe played in-state foe VCU (1-2-1) to a 1-1 draw. W&M is unbeaten through four games for the first time since 2017.
The visitors jumped out to an early lead, scoring nine minutes into the contest off a corner kick.
Anna Bagley served it in, finding the head of Kendyl Sarver. The Ram forward nodded the cross down into the right side of the frame to give VCU a 1-0 advantage.
It was the first goal allowed by the Tribe this season, and the only tally by either side in the first half.
William & Mary was stifled by the VCU defense in the opening 45 minutes but came out as a different squad in the second half. The Tribe dictated the tempo and maintained possession for much of the frame.
The first threat from the Green and Gold came in the 63
rd minute, when Crain collected a pass from
Leah Iglesias, but her shot attempt from 10 yards out found the arms of the keeper.
Less than five minutes later
Gabriella Kurtas sent a promising free kick towards goal that was once again thwarted out by the Rams' goalie.
After a couple more close calls, the Tribe finally cracked the code in the waning moments of the match.
Ginny Delacruz settled a bouncing ball in the midfield and lofted a pass that dropped perfectly in front of Crain who was charging for goal at the top of the box. Crain struck a half-volley that floated just over the outstretched arm of the VCU keeper and W&M had tied things at one in the 87
th minute.
The goal was Crain's third in the first four games of season, while Delacruz picked up her second assist on the year.
Zoe Doughty played her first full 90 minutes in goal this season and picked up a save in the draw.
The last time William & Mary was unbeaten through their opening four matches was when they began 4-0-0 in 2017 under current volunteer assistant coach
John Daly.
The Tribe posted all eight of their shots in the second half with four of them finding the target. Defensively W&M limited VCU to only three shots in the second frame with none coming on goal.
Scoring
9' | VCU – Kendyl Sarver (Anna Bagley)
87' | W&M –
Ivey Crain (
Ginny Delacruz)
Starters
W&M - #19 Doughty (GK), #9 Sellers, #10 Shackford, #12 Kurtas, #13 Green-Orset, #14 O'Toole, #18 Zier, #21 D'Alesandro, #22 Delacruz, #23 Crain, #25 McClure
VCU - #1 Karpovich, #2 Bagley, #4 Gajdobranski, #5 Matsuhisa, #7 Kraszula, #11 Bulatovic, #12 Sarver, #19 Munyak, #21 Pieklo, #33 Castro, #34 Maughan
Up Next
The Tribe continues its two-match homestand, as it hosts its second-straight Atlantic-10 opponent in George Mason on Thursday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FloFC.
