NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The fourth straight double-overtime game for the Christopher Newport men's soccer team ended in a 1-1 draw against nationally-ranked Washington & Lee University on Saturday evening at Captains Field. The Captains are now 3-1-3 after holding the sixth-ranked Generals (5-1-1) to their first draw of the 2019 campaign.
For the second consecutive season the Captains have played four straight overtime games, marking the second longest run since 1989 when Christopher Newport logged five in a row. Last season, Christopher Newport also played four straight from September 8-September 29, including a 2-1 OT setback to Washington & Lee.
In Saturday's contest, the Generals got on the board first with a set piece goal in the 56th minute. After a foul was called just outside the box in the center of the field, Washington & Lee called on Connor Wharton to take the shot on the free kick. Wharton bent his shot around the wall and off the ground into the left side of the goal to open the game's scoring.
That free kick was the only goal the visitors would muster despite 21 total shots and 12 on-goal. Senior goalkeeper
Justin Piercy had a terrific game for the Captains with a career-high 10 saves. The most pivotal stop of the night came from junior defender
Davis Pillow in the 49th minute. Early in the second half, the Generals got the ball close in the box and a shot by Samuel Bass slipped under Piercy's sliding save chance but the shot did not have enough pace to get into the goal mouth before a sprinting Pillow raced back and cleared the ball off the line at the last moment.
Escaping the early second-half onslaught by Washington & Lee with just one goal allowed, the Captains took control more and more as the stanza careened toward the finish. In the 60th minute, sophomore
Ethan Larson unleashed a hard rip from 20 yards just wide of the goal. That came just minutes after
Michael Wilson pressured W&L keeper Michael Nyc with a hard shot from the middle of the field.
As the chances continued to mount for Christopher Newport, the equalizer would come in the 80th minute. After a free kick for the Captains got the ball in the box, the Generals failed to clear the ball downfield and Larson volleyed a pass toward the back post. Elevating above his defender, sophomore
Will Collins flicked a perfect header pass toward the middle and junior
Justin Wilson connected with a second header into the right side of the goal. The connection tied the game for the Captains and got Wilson in the scoring column for the first time this season. Collins and Larson each picked up their first assists.
Late in the second half, Piercy stood tall again on a hard shot by Washington & Lee when he made a leaping one-handed save to avoid allowing the go-ahead goal off the foot of Harry Barringer.
With the score knotted at 1-1 at the end of regulation, the Captains offense continued to control the action in overtime. Wilson put a header shot on frame in the 94th minute and then hammered a hard left-footed shot off a defender just over a minute later.
Sam Dickinson had a header blocked in the first overtime as well for Christopher Newport. In the second OT period, Larson took another shot wide but neither team put a shot on-goal as the game ended in a draw.
Christopher Newport will now shift it's focus to conference play as they host York College of Pennsylvania next Saturday, September 28 at 7:00 pm in the Capital Athletic Conference opener.
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