The American University men’s soccer team (3-6-4) was defeated 1-0 by the William & Mary Tribe (7-5-2) at Reeves Field on Sep. 29.
The Eagles entered the game coming off a 1-1 tie vs Loyola Maryland. The Tribe entered the game coming off a 2-1 home victory versus Campbell University.
After an even couple of minutes with each team settling into the game, American’s sophomore goalkeeper Evan Tubbs was forced into early action as William & Mary put a cross into the box that he comfortably came out and collected.
On his goal kick, Tubbs created an early opportunity for the Eagles when the second ball was won by junior midfielder Chris Sullivan. Though Sullivan played a ball in behind for sophomore forward Nicholas Beil, Beil and his Tribe defender collided. Despite the initial crash landing, the ball fell perfectly for graduate student midfielder Sebastian Garces, who got a shot off the ball; the shot was deflected out of play for a corner.
After the early defensive scare, the game opened up for William & Mary as they created two good chances through sophomore forward Alex Garrison. The first chance came after the sophomore received the ball, dribbling past freshman defender Rohan Chivukula before his shot was blocked inside the area by senior defender Ian Webb-Johnson. Not even 45 seconds later, Garrison nearly scored on a header, his shot barely missing the top of the post.
American junior midfielder Oliver Snowdon had the team’s first shot on target three minutes later with his long-range effort being comfortably saved by Tribe senior goalkeeper Diego Garciarena.
Following a switch of play from Garces to sophomore defender Finn O’Brien, the defender played Sullivan a ball in. Sullivan’s proceeding powerful shot forced Garciarena into his second save of the half. On the ensuing corner, Chivukula got a shot off that was followed by a rebound effort from Sullivan, but both shots were ultimately blocked.
The decisive moment of the game came with under 10 minutes remaining on the clock in the first half.
After a long ball from the Tribe backline, Chivukula’s header landed right to Tribe freshman defender Ethan Roemisch, who played the ball wide to senior midfielder Gabe Ruitenberg. Ruitenberg cut in and curled a shot which bounced off the post and into the back of the net, scoring the only goal of the game.
American freshman forward Henrick Boahen had a chance right before the end of the half, but his header was easily collected by Garciarena as the referee blew the whistle for halftime.
“I think guys are feeling the pressure of the goals not going in and especially it would be the guys that would be scoring them,” head coach Zach Samol said. “I don’t think you can ignore it, but you have to be careful about how you handle it.”
The Eagles started off on the front foot in the second half in search of an equalizing goal. After a combination play on the left side of the attack, the ball ended up with senior midfielder Reyes Parra, who, instead of playing a free O’Brien on the right side, decided to shoot from outside the box. The ball ultimately went wide of Garciarena’s net.
Minutes later, Parra, junior midfielder Moad Ezzahir and junior midfielder Paulino Paz led a counterattack. After breaking away from his defender, Ezzahir found freshman Yuta Phoenix on the left flank. Phoenix tried a shot similar to Garrison’s, but ended up sending the ball wide of the net.
Ezzahir had one of the clearest chances of the game for the Eagles when he was left unmarked and onside near the penalty area. After receiving a cross from Snowdon, he could not find the power on the header to put it past Garciarena, who was forced into a diving save. Despite their possession, the Eagles couldn’t find the equalizer.
With 18 minutes to go in the game, Samol used one of his two challenges on a free kick in which it appeared that a William & Mary defender had brought down Webb-Johnson in the penalty area. However, the incident was reviewed and cleared by the video assistant referee.
There was another potential incident with five minutes remaining: after the ball was headed into a dangerous area by Webb-Johnson, Beil appeared to arrive at the ball before Garciarena and he went down under supposed contact. Despite the appeals from the American players on the field, the incident was not reviewed and the referee waved play on.
Sullivan had one final chance after a strong cross into the box by Phoenix, but he was unable to beat the William & Mary defender to the header. Despite their loss, the Eagles outshot the Tribe 11-7, 4-3 on goal and had 5 corners to their 1 corner.
“Today is just about a win and the weekend is about the three points,” Samol said. “You want to take as many points as you can at home in the league, because getting points on the road is always harder.”
The Eagles went on to defeat Bucknell 2-0 at home before losing 2-0 at Lehigh on Friday, Oct. 9.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen, Jack Stashower and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing by Avery Grossman, Jaden Maitland Anderson, Abigail Jose and Ryan Sieve.
