Friday, William and Mary hosted Old Dominion in a neck-in-neck competition to kick off its home-opening weekend. After 76 minutes, the match ended with a 4-3 loss for the Tribe.
Within the first three minutes of the match, forward Merle Knobloch ripped a shot on frame that was blocked by junior goalkeeper Morgan Connor.
Late in the first half, the Monarchs had a pair of chances directly in front of Connor’s goal, but the score remained in favor of the Tribe.
Junior midfielder Annie Snead scored her first goal of the season to propel the Tribe into the lead.
The College carried a 1-0 advantage into the half, despite Big Blue outshooting the Tribe 6-2.
Snead scored again early in the second half to double the Tribe’s lead.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on corners this week, so it was really nice to finish on a couple corners,” Snead said.
The rest of the second half remained scoreless until the 64th minute.
“We knew that at half time they were probably going to change their press on us and come after us, because they had nothing to lose,” head coach Tess Ellis said.
“I was really proud that with no seconds left on the clock we scored to take it into overtime.”
Sure enough, defender Rebecca Birch shot late in the second half, which was blocked. Midfielder Alexandria Brewer followed up and found the back of the goal.
Within minutes, Old Dominion midfielder Ilse Westera came through with a powerful shot which sailed past Connor between the posts. The Monarchs duo of Knobloach and Westera scored again later in the 64th minute in the same fashion as their first goal.
With less than 20 seconds remaining in the match, the College earned a penalty corner. Time on the clock ran out, but the play continued. Freshman midfielder Cara Menges took the penalty corner, Snead set up the ball and junior midfielder Christie van de Kamp fired a rocket of a shot into the back of the net, propelling the match into overtime.
“I was really proud that with no seconds left on the clock we scored to take it into overtime,” Ellis said.
Despite the late push from the Tribe, in the 76th minute Old Dominion forward Erin Huffman took a long shot, which found the back of the goal and ended the game.
To continue its home-opening weekend, the College will host Lafayette Sunday, September 2, beginning at noon.
“I thought the girls looks sharp and the things that we had talked about against Duke last week, those changes came into our game really quickly,” Ellis said. “Two games into it – the changes that we’re making really quickly, I’m really proud of the effort that’s out there.”
