Tribe Men's Soccer Falls in Season Opener at #3 Wake Forest, 1-0

09/01/09 9:15PM

Winston-Salem, N.C. - The William and Mary men's soccer team once again played the #3 Wake Forest Demon Deacons to the wire on Tuesday night. But for the second straight match, the Deacs were able to edge the Tribe, 1-0. Last season, Wake defeated the Tribe, 1-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the loss, the College falls to 0-1,while WF moves to 1-0.

Box Score

The Tribe tallied the first shot of the match on Tuesday night, but senior Andrew Hoxie's shot went wide. Minutes later, the College made a series of nice defensive stands. In the seventh minute, Wake earned back-to-back corner kicks. On second corner, the Demon Deacons had a great scoring chance but Ike Opara's header hit the crossbar. Less than a minute later, WF had another chance for a goal, but the shot by Zack Schilawski was blocked.

In the 14th minute, the College had another scoring chance against the Demon Deacons. Freshman Chris Perez took a shot to give the Tribe an early advantage, but his attempt went high. Wake Forest wasted little time countering W&M's attack, mounting one of its own in the 16th minute. Off a corner, Wake's Corben Bone had two shots for a goal, but saw his first attempt get blocked, and then after getting the rebound, saw his second shot go high.

In the 29th minute, the College got its first shot on goal when senior Price Thomas sent a shot on frame, only to see it saved. Again, the Deacs countered with an attack of their own a minute later when a header by Chris Estridge went high.

In the 39th minute, Wake mounted another attack, as Bone had another shot blocked. Minutes later, it was the Tribe who were the ones that mounted the counter attack. In the 43rd minute, junior Nat Baako saw his first shot of the match get blocked. The rebound was collected by senior Roger Bothe, but his shot was also blocked.

The half would come to a close with the score tied at 0-0. In the first stanza, Wake Forest out-shot the College, 6-5, but the Tribe was able to get one shot on frame, while the Deacs were not. The College's defense really performed well in the first frame, as the Demon Deacons were held scoreless despite a 9-0 advantage in corner kicks.

In the second half, Wake Forest was the first to mount an attack. In the 54th minute, Andy Lubahn had two shots, with one getting saved by Tribe goalkeeper Andrew McAdams and the other one going wide. Again, the College would answer with an attack of its own. In the 57th minute, Hoxie had another chance for a score, but again his shot went wide.

In the 59th minute, Wake had a pair of opportunities on goal, but neither found the back of the net. William and Mary would answer yet again with two shots of their own. In the 61st minute, Hoxie had another shot go wide, which was followed with a Baako shot that also went wide.

The match continued to go back and forth, when in the 63rd minute, Perez had his second shot saved. His shot was then followed by another scoring opportunity for Wake Forest, but Lubahn's shot went wide.

After two shots by Wake in the 69th and 71st minutes, the Demon Deacons broke the tie with a goal in the 72nd minute. Off a cross from the left side from Nick Courtney, Schilawski slide in from seven yards out to put the ball in the net for Wake, giving the Demon Deacons a 1-0 lead.

Just a minute later, Wake kept its offensive attack going, but McAdams was able to save the shot by da Luz. Wake saw another shot go high in the 76th minute before the Tribe answered with an attack of its own. In the 77th minute, a header from junior Alan Koger was saved by Wake, maintaining their slim 1-0 lead.

Towards the end of the match, Wake Forest sent in more defenders to counter the attack of the Tribe, not allowing the College to get the equalizer. The Demon Deacons would hold on to win the match, 1-0.

For the match, Wake would out-shoot the Tribe, 18-10, with five of its shots going on frame to the Tribe's three. McAdams would finish the match with four saves, while Hoxie led the College with three shots.

Next up for the William and Mary men's soccer team will be a match against the Campbell Camels on Saturday, September 5. Kickoff in Buies Creek, North Carolina is scheduled for 7 p.m.