It was the first time in 25 years that Old Dominion and George Washington University met on the pitch for a collegiate soccer match. The last time these two schools met was back in 1998 when the Monarchs scored a 2-0 victory.
After conceding a pair of goals in the first half of play, the ODU squad overcame the deficit and netted two goals, securing the 2-2 draw for its season opener. The Monarchs currently hold the advantage in the series with a 4-1-1 lead. Prior to the start of the 2023 season, the Sun Belt Conference predicted that the Monarchs, who had finished the 2022 season with a record of 6-8-2, would place ninth in the standings.
Old Dominion dominated the first half of play, outshooting the Revolutionaries 10-6. Early on in the match, the Monarchs believed that they would pull ahead with a 1-0 advantage thanks to graduate midfielder Pierce Galloway, but the goal was disallowed by the officials because of a handball penalty. As the game remained even, it was the Revolutionaries who capitalized first in the 36th minute with a goal from Ben Hissrich, gaining the lead. That wasn’t all for the visitors, as they found the back of the net for a second time in the evening with a goal from William Turner with six seconds remaining in the half. Thanks to the handball penalty on Galloway and three saves from their goalkeeper Tom Macauley, George Washington shut out ODU in the first 45 minutes.
Coming out of the break, ODU did not take long to tally their first official goal of the evening. Four minutes into the second half, junior midfielder Karan Mandair scored off a penalty kick with a blast to the left side of the net past Macauley. In the next few minutes of play, graduate forward Key White and midfielder Ulysses Vega were served yellow cards. In the 55th minute, sophomore goalkeeper Michael Statham made his second of three saves of the evening to keep the advantage to one goal. The Monarchs evened the match at two in the 69th minute as sophomore forward Michael Eberle headed in the shot off an impressive pass from graduate midfielder Nathan Lam. ODU was in complete control of play in the final 45 minutes as the majority of it was on the Revolutionaries’ side of the pitch.
There were several opportunities for Old Dominion to strike a third goal to pull ahead in the match, but the score remained the same the rest of the way. The Monarchs outshot George Washington 6-2 in the second half, and 16-8 overall throughout the evening. ODU had the advantage in corner kicks (7-3) and shots on goal (6-5). Settling for a draw moves Old Dominion to 0-0-1 on the season.
After announcing his retirement after the 2023 season last week, marking the end of 27 years with ODU men’s soccer, head coach Alan Dawson shared his thoughts on his team’s performance in the season opener.
“I thought we were dominant in the first half, but we were down 2-0. We responded well,” Dawson said. “You come away with a tie. You don’t lose a game, but you feel like you should have won the game. It was a tough night in that way.”
Next up for this ODU squad is a five-game road trip that kicks off on Monday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m. against UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County). They will also face George Mason, Radford, William & Mary, and Georgia State. The Monarchs return home on Tuesday, Sept. 19, when they will welcome VCU in the first of a four-match homestand.
