WINCHESTER, Va. – The Shenandoah University men's soccer team drew 1-1 with #20 Washington and Lee Wednesday evening at home. The Hornets (8-5-2, 3-2-1) went down to the Generals after a goal in the 19
th minute of play. W&L took that 1-0 lead into halftime, and the Hornets ramped up the pressure at the start of the second half. Getting taken down in the box,
Jarbin Rodriguez drew a penalty, and
Nathan Yared stepped up and drilled past the keeper to tie the game at 1-1 in the 47
th minute. The Hornets out shot the Generals 12-9 as both teams had seven shots on goal, each goalie made six saves in the game, while each only gave up one goal, and the Generals had the slight edge in corner kicks, 7-5.
Kyle Welch led all players with four shots, while
Chinedu Ikem and
Nathan Yared had three.
Nathan Lynch started in goal for the Hornets and, after giving up the first-half goal, settled in to make six saves in the game and come up with clutch stops for the Hornets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
W&L earned the first corner kick of the game in the 4
th minute. It did not take long for Lynch to be tested as he made his first save of the game in the 5
th minute. The save gave the Generals their second corner of the game, and the ensuing shot was off-target. After that corner, the Hornets got their offensive game going with a shot from
Kyle Welch earning their first corner.
Chinedu Ikem first his first of three shots, but that too was off target and the game remained scoreless in the 11
th minute. The Hornets had a great shot to go one-on-one with the keeper as Rodriguez sent a beautiful ball to an open Yared, but the referee deemed him offside, ending the threat. The Hornets' next chance came off a corner, as Welch played a short ball to Rodriguez, Rodriguez fired a shot that the keeper had to throw his hands up at the last second to make the save. The Generals struck first on a long ball up the middle, the first player brought the ball down, took a touch, and played his teammate.
Nathan Lynch, playing aggressively, came off his line to try and cut the angle down, but the Generals took an extra touch and slotted the ball past to make it 1-0. The Hornets fired three more shots in the half, but went into the break down 1-0.
That lead was erased in the 47
th minute as
Jarbin Rodriguez took a pass from
Chinedu Ikem. Rodriguez beat his defender and went racing towards the net. As he was cutting in, the Generals defender took him down from behind inside the box, earning a penalty kick.
Nathan Yared took the penalty kick, and even though the keeper guessed the right way, Yared had too much on the kick and tied the game at 1-1. Both offenses continued to pick up the pressure as both keepers were relied on to make save after save. Each team fought off corners and left everything out on the pitch. After the Generals were assessed a yellow card, the Hornets used the set piece and
Gabe Eckenrode had a diving header that just went wide. That would be the last chance for either team and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Shenandoah has still not defeated Washington and Lee in their 13 previous meetings, but this was the first time the Hornets earned an important conference point with a tie. The last time Shenandoah did not lose to the Generals came back in September of 2010 when the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
UP NEXT
The Hornets will hit the road this weekend as they travel to Greensboro, N.C. as they battle Guilford in conference play.
#GoSUHornets
