William and Mary hosted North Carolina State Tues., Sept. 10, at Martin Family Stadium. The game ended after two overtimes with the score tied 1-1.
The game began quietly, with the Wolfpack holding much of the possession, culminating in a dangerous free kick that floated harmlessly into the hands of Tribe freshman goalkeeper Kieran Baskett. The Tribe then seriously challenged with a corner kick of its own in the 13th minute, but the shot went to the side of goal. The two teams spent much of the first half trading possession and the occasional corner kick without any serious goal-scoring opportunities. A sloppy defensive play in the 45th minute, however, allowed Wolfpack forward Iverson Brisma to take a clean shot from within the box, prompting Baskett to make a save, and end the first half with both teams remaining scoreless.
The Wolfpack had multiple dangerous goalscoring opportunities early in the second frame, but the Tribe’s defense tightened up and the Wolfpack failed to capitalize on their opportunities. Tribe senior forward Julian Ngoh then had the Tribe’s best chance of the game to that point in the 58th minute, but the ball drifted just over the crossbar. The two teams failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities yet again, including a free kick for the Wolfpack off a yellow card by Tribe sophomore midfielder James Bradley in the 78th minute.
The Wolfpack opened the scoring in the 81st minute, taking the lead off a curling shot to the top of the net by midfielder David Loera. The Tribe, however, was not done, and quickly equalized in the 84th minute on a shot by senior forward Cole Smith, assisted by Ngoh.
The two teams began overtime tied 1-1, and stout goalkeeping by Baskett kept the score tied. The Wolfpack had their best chance of overtime in the 109th minute, but Wolfpack midfielder Gabriel Machado rocketed a shot off the left post. The game then ended tied, with a final score of 1-1.
With the tie, the Tribe moved to 0-2-1 and the Wolfpack fell to 2-1-1. The Tribe will host North Carolina-Wilmington in its Colonial Athletic Association conference opener Sat., Sept. 14.
