Senior midfielder Price Thomas’ two second-half goals gave William and Mary (7-3, 2-1 CAA) a 2-1 upset win over no. 20 Old Dominion (6-2-1, 1-1-1 CAA) Wednesday evening. Senior goalkeeper Andrew McAdams made five second half saves, preventing any chance of an ODU comeback.
“Over all it was a good team performance,” Head Coach Chris Norris said. “But you have to have individuals who make big plays, and tonight Price and Andrew were the difference.”
The Monarchs struck first off of a 20-yard free kick in the 16th minute by Shane Howard. The shot deflected off a Tribe player and McAdams’ hand before finding the net to give ODU a quick 1-0 advantage.
Freshman midfielder Chris Perez gave the College its best chance of a first-half score when he possessed the ball from behind the midfield line into ODU’s box, beating several Monarch defenders, and fired a shot just to the left of the cage. Perez’s shot was one of five for the College in the first half, two less than ODU’s total.
Despite being plague by poor early second-half performances this year, the Tribe started the second frame on the offensive with repeated attempts at the Monarch goal.
“I think the emotion of the team was that we needed to fight hard to get two goals back,” Thomas said. “We had played pretty well with our backs against the wall, but we needed to come out with a little bit of fire and play like we needed to win.”
For the first time this season, senior forward Andrew Hoxie did not start for the Tribe, nursing a leg injury. Yet, trailing in the 64th minute, Norris inserted his star forward to give the offense a spark.
“We felt like we needed something to change the game,” Norris said. “He felt like he was healthy enough to give us some minutes and see what he was capable of doing. The timing was such that it looked like it helped us. If nothing else, I think him stepping on the field, psychologically, gives the rest of the players a lift at times.”
Two minutes after Hoxie’s appearance, junior forward Alan Koger found Thomas in front of the ODU goal where Thomas knocked the ball to the left of the Monarch keeper for the equalizer.
“[The goal] was a big lift,” Thomas said. “It swung the momentum back in our favor on our home field with our fans behind us.”
Thomas found the net again in the 73rd minute, this time after receiving a pass from senior back Roger Bothe. Thomas drove the ball down the left side of the field into the Monarch box before firing a shot into the top right corner of the goal.
ODU took 14 shots throughout the second half, six of which were on frame.
“Andrew was fantastic,” Norris said. “He made a couple of game-winning saves. Saves that are the kind that big time goal keepers make for good teams, and tonight he did that.”
The Monarchs out-shot the Tribe 20-10 and 10-5 in shots on goal in a match with three yellow cards and 30 fouls.
The Tribe goes on the road this weekend to take on Virginia Commonwealth University Saturday at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: This was Thomas’ first multi-goal game of his career … ODU’s first half goal, was the first opening half goal allowed by McAdams in 11 consecutive games … The Monarchs held a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks on the night … Junior forward Ryan Snyder recorded his first career start with the College … The Tribe has not allowed more than one goal in its last eight matches.
