Men’s soccer falls 2-0 to Tribe in home closer
Photo by Ali Jones
Peter Mason, Contributing Writer
Wednesday night wasn’t the finish the Rams were hoping for in men’s soccer’s final home game of the season.
The College of William and Mary bested VCU 2-0, improving their record to 7-7-2, while VCU fell to 4-9-4.
In the first nine minutes of the match, VCU sophomore midfielder Luc Fatton fired a shot that would have given VCU a 1-0 lead, but the attempt missed wide. Two minutes after, the Tribe took advantage of an opportunity to give them the lead.
W&M’s William Eskay received a pass from his teammate and older brother Jackson Eskay and proceeded to drive into the box and launch a shot that went left of the net, and the Tribe took a 1-0 in just the first 11 minutes of the game.
Just before the end of the first half, VCU’s junior forward Jorge Herranz fired a shot that would have tied the score, but W&M’s goalkeeper Mac Phillips punched it away.
The Tribe began the second half leading 1-0, 16 minutes before the final whistle VCU’s Herranz managed a corner kick that sailed straight into the box. The Rams had another chance to tie the score but Phillips got to it first.
W&M’s Geoffrey Young was able to get the ball into the box, passing to teammate Marcel Berry, who overcame a deflection in front of the goal. Berry preceded to pass the ball to Ryder Bell who would put the Tribe up 2-0 after launching the ball into the empty net.
The Rams spent the last 13 minutes trying to find the net, but W&M held out to the final whistle and came away with a road win. VCU out shot the Tribe 14-13. Herranz led the team in shots with four total, two of which were on goal.
Junior midfielder Dakota Barnathan managed three shots for the Rams with one of them being on goal. Fatton also contributed two with one being at the Tribe net. The Rams as a team held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks, but were unable to put one in.
Eskay and Ryder, in addition to being the two scorers for the Tribe, also both managed four total shots for William and Mary. Phillips recorded four saves for the Tribe to help his team get the 2-0 victory.
The Rams will conclude the 2015 regular season with a road trip to face the Atlantic 10 conference leaders, University of Dayton, on Nov. 7. The Flyers hold a record of 10-4-2, and is unbeaten in the A-10 with a record of 5-0-1.