W&M Men’s Soccer Upsets No. 1 Maryland, 1-0, in Double OT

Brannon Thomas Scores from Michael Yakovac in Tribe’s First Ever Win Over Top-Ranked Team

09/22/04 9:46PM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary senior Brannon Thomas (Virginia Beach, VA) headed in a cross from redshirt-freshman Michael Yakovac (Burke, VA) in the 103rd minute, as the Tribe men’s soccer team upset Maryland, ranked No. 1 in the nation, 1-0, this evening in just the second men’s soccer match ever played at Albert-Daly Field.

The College improves to 4-1-1 on the year, as the Green and Gold earned the first win over a top-ranked team in school history. The Terrapins fall to 5-1-1 in their first defeat of the 2004 campaign.

Along with Thomas and Yakovac, W&M’s defense proved to be the difference tonight, as the College shut out a Maryland team that entered the contest leading the nation with an average of 5.00 goals per game. W&M sophomore goalkeeper Kris Rake (Flower Mound, TX), who has started every match of his career, tied his career high with 10 saves as he earned the fourth shutout of his career and his second of the season, lowering his goals against average to 0.79 this season.

“All of the guys on the back line did a great job for us tonight,” said first-year W&M head coach Chris Norris. “To shut out a team that scores like Maryland does is a tremendous accomplishment for our team defense. It couldn’t have happened without a great effort from our whole team, the defensive intensity began with our back line and spread up through the midfield and the forwards.”

Each side had a number of scoring opportunities throughout the contest, which saw the Terrapins enjoy a 20-8 shot advantage. Maryland had the first scoring chance of the game in the eighth minute, when a header by Chris Lancos bounced off the crossbar. Just seconds later, Rake made his first save of the night as Abe Thompson attempted to put home the rebound. The Tribe also misfired on two chances early, as a header by junior Pat Scherder (Vienna, VA) went just over the crossbar and a shot by junior Clayton Voss (Reston, VA) went just to the left of the goal. W&M had consecutive near misses in the 64th minute, when Maryland goalkeeper and Williamsburg native Noah Palmer stopped a pair of point-blank shots from Voss and Scherder.

With the two teams scoreless through regulation, the match went to the first of two 10-minute overtime periods. The Terrapins held the offensive advantage in the first, ripping off three shots, two of which were saved by Rake, in a span of less than two minutes midway through the period. Maryland’s last scoring chance came in the 103rd minute when Rake stopped a header from Jason Garey. From there the ball quickly went up the field, finding the foot of Yakovac and the head of Thomas for the golden goal.

“We always try to maintain an even keel, because this is just one game in a long season, but this is obviously a tremendous win for our program,” said Norris. “We can enjoy it tonight, but now we need to prepare for Hartwick [W&M’s opponent on Friday]. All we’ve done is get one win, but it’s definitely a good one to have in the bank down the road.”

A major factor in the Tribe’s victory was the College’s new home facility, Albert-Daly Field. An all-grass surface, it replaced W&M’s artificial turf of Busch Field, which had consistently kept the top teams in the country from coming to Williamsburg to face the Green and Gold. Tonight’s contest marked the first time that an Atlantic Coast Conference team had played in Williamsburg since 1996. Since then, W&M has played 20 matches against ACC opponents, all on the road or at a neutral site, going 10-9-1 in those contests.

The Tribe returns to action when it hosts No. 6 Old Dominion, American and Hartwick in the Nike Tribe Soccer Classic this weekend. ODU and American will start the event at 4:30 PM on Friday, followed by the nightcap, in which the Tribe will take on Hartwick at 7:00 PM.


Game Notes: The win improves W&M’s record against Maryland to 3-3-0 all time, as the Terrapins made their first trip to Wil-liamsburg ... The victory is the Tribe’s first ever win over the No. 1 team in the nation ... W&M has tied the country’s top team on two other occasions ... On September 12, 1982, the College played defending NCAA Champion Connecticut to a 0-0 tie at Zable Stadium ... W&M tied No. 1 Virginia, also the defending national champion, by the same 0-0 score at Busch Field on October 21, 1992 ... The victory extends the College’s winning streak against ACC opponents to six matches, including a win over NC State, and two each against Duke and Virginia ... W&M is also unbeaten in its last five matches against nationally-ranked teams (3-0-2) in a streak that dates through the start of last season.

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