WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—The William & Mary (1-3-1) men's soccer team returns home for the first time in 12 days to host Old Dominion (1-0-3) on Tuesday.
The non-conference matchup kicks off at 7 p.m. at Martin Family Stadium and will be broadcast on FloFC.
TRIBE NOTES:
Last Time Out:
The Tribe dropped their conference opener in heartbreaking fashion Saturday against Delaware, 3-2. W&M fell behind early but came storming back with goals from
Lucas Caldas and
Evan Rabush in the 23
rd and 29
thminute. The Tribe's 2-1 lead stood until the final three minutes of the game when the Blue Hens scored back-to-back goals to steal a victory.
Ian Krajna assisted on both William & Mary goals, and
Cole McNally made five saves.
Ian Will Be Your Server:
Krajna has proven to be quite the table setter over the Tribe's last two matches, having assisted on all three W&M goals last week. Those three helpers serve as the first career points for the Huntsville, Ala. native.
Bragging Rights:
Tuesday's match will be the second of three non-conference matches against in-state opponents for the Tribe. Last Tuesday the Green and Gold battled Longwood to a 1-1 draw on the road with
Alfredo Bozalongo providing the lone goal. The final non-conference Commonwealth matchup will be on Oct. 10 when the Tribe visits Virginia Tech. The Tribe is 1-1-3 over the last two-plus seasons against Virginia based non-league opponents.
Nothing Like Home Cookin':
The match against ODU is the start of three consecutive home matches for the Green and Gold, who host Northeastern on Saturday and High Point, Tuesday. The Tribe split their two home matches this season with a season-opening win against Binghamton before losing to then No. 19 New Hampshire. The Tribe haven't played three straight matches at home since they opened the 2021 season with four in a row.
Sharpshooters:
The Tribe rank first in the CAA in shot accuracy, with 51% of their shots this year being on-target. They also rank third in the conference in shots on goal per game with seven.
Series History:
The series between William & Mary and ODU is both long standing and highly competitive. Tuesday will be the teams' 58
th meeting all time, with the series sitting deadlocked at 24-24-9. Recent history sits in favor of the Monarchs, however. Prior to last year's scoreless draw ODU had won four consecutive meetings against the Tribe and have only allowed W&M to score two goals in the last five meetings. The Tribe's longest win streak in the series is six, from 1969-1974.
Scouting the Monarchs:
ODU's season has been a perplexing one, as the Monarchs picked up their first win in their last match against Radford but are still unbeaten on the year at 1-0-3. They boast ties against George Washington, UMBC and George Mason. Tuesday will be ODU's fourth match away from home in their first five. Karan Mandair and Jonas Schmalbach each have a pair of goals so far this year for the Monarchs.
