WINCHESTER, Va. – The Shenandoah University men's soccer team suffered a last-minute, heart breaker loss to Randolph College late Sunday night after the game was delayed over three hours. The Hornets (6-5-1, 1-2-0) outshot, out possessed, and dominated in corners but ultimately fell on a goal in the 88
th minute to the WildCats. Shenandoah needed to play the final two minutes of the game, after Randolph scored the go-ahead goal, after Rodriguez was issued a red card. The Hornets had the edge on shots, 17-3 and corners 12-0.
Jarbin Rodriguez had four shots, with
Nathan Yared following with three, while
Logan Whited and
Niclas Vavra each had multiple shots.
Nathan Lynch started in the net for the Hornets and did not make a save in the contest while giving up the late goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornets started quickly as they had three corner kicks in the first 16 minutes of play, but they could not cash in on any of those opportunities. In the 22
nd minute,
Connor Robles had a good look at goal, but the play was called back due to the Hornets being offside.
Jarbin Rodriguez and Yared, each then got clean looks at putting the Hornets up, but Rodriguez's shot was saved while Yared's sailed just high. Then in the 33
rd minute, the Hornets found the back of the net.
Tarick Kamara caused a turnover at midfield and passed it up to
Kyle Welch, Welch played it out wide to
Chinedu Ikem who dribbled through the box and found Rodriguez in the far corner. Rodriguez sent a cross through the box, that Ikem tipped, and Welch put in the back of the net. Unfortunately, the referee raised the flag and called the play offside and the game remained scoreless. The Hornets had three more attempts at a corner after that final offside call, but the game went to halftime with no score.
The Hornets kept the pressure up at the start of the second half, as they earned three corners within the first six minutes of the period while getting shots from Rodriguez, Yared, Welch, and Vavra. The Hornets had many opportunities as they continued to pepper the WildCat keeper with shots, but they could not find the one that could beat him. With 15 minutes left in the game,
Xavier Thompson had a good look at the goal, after
Nicholas Mounkhaty threw the ball into
Connor Robles, who played it back to Mounkhaty, who then sent a cross into the box, and Thompson blasted a ball and just missed it getting it cleanly, and the keeper came up with the save. The Hornets next chance came with 10 minutes to go in the game. The Hornets drew a foul just outside the box,
Kyle Welch played the short corner to Rodriguez, who sent the ball into the box, after the ball bounced around, it found the foot of
Logan Whited, but the defender recovered and slid in front of him to block the shot. The WildCats finally broke through after a long throw-in that failed to get cleared, and a low shot to the far post beat the Hornets as Randolph took a 1-0 lead with under three minutes to play in the game. With the Hornets trying to make a comeback, they were issued a red card late in the half and then had to play the rest of the game with only ten men. The Hornets could not get another shot off as the clock hit zeros.
UP NEXT
The Hornets are home again on Wednesday, as they will welcome Randolph-Macon to Winchester for an important conference match up as Shenandoah looks to get back in the win column.
#GoSUHornets
