Sept. 12, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Freshman Kevan George scored his first career goal to tie the game in the 60th minute, but William and Mary (2-0-0) scored twice in the final 28 minutes to defeat UCF (1-3-0) 3-1 in men's non-conference soccer action Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Old Dominion STIHL Soccer Classic.
With the Knights trailing 1-0 early in the second half, George blasted a shot from 22 yards out past William and Mary goalkeeper Andrew McAdams for the equalizer in the 60th minute. It was the first career goal for George, a freshman from Decatur, Ga.
The Tribe immediately responded to reclaim the lead just over two minutes later when Andrew Hoxie scored his second goal of the season in the 63rd minute off an assist from Doug McBride.
Sophomore Yaron Bacher went to work trying to get the Knights back into the game, firing a pair of shots in the next 10 minutes. William and Mary added an insurance goal in the 81st minute when Nathaniel Baako got a pass over the top of the defense and was able to slide a shot past UCF keeper Sean Johnson. Hoxie and Ian Stowe assisted on the goal.
For the game, William and Mary held a 14-13 advantage in shots, including a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. For the Knights, Johnson made six saves in goal while Bacher and senior Chris Andaur fired four shots apiece.
"We did the hard part coming out with a lot of emotion in the second half and finding a way to equalize the game," head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "Unfortunately, we gave up the second goal that forced our hand to spend the last 15 or 20 minutes chasing the game, and we gave up the third goal as a result."
The game was scoreless through the first 41 minutes of action in the opening half before Alan Kroger tallied a goal for the Tribe in the 42nd minute to give William and Mary the halftime lead.
"We created a lot of scoring opportunities and the shame is we were only able to finish one of them," Cunningham added. "We will shift our focus to playing an extremely dangerous [Old Dominion] team on Sunday."
UCF will play its final game of a season-opening five-game stretch away from home on Sunday, facing the host Old Dominion at 2:30 p.m. Links for both live stats and live video can be found on the men's soccer schedule page on UCFAthletics.com.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Men's Soccer Game Summary (Final)
UCF (1-3-0) vs William & Mary (2-0-0)
Norfolk, Va.
Date: Sep 12, 2008
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
UCF........................ 0 1 - 1
William & Mary............. 1 2 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 84:52 W&M KROGER, Alan (1) (Baako, Nathaniel; Belcher, Nathan)
2. 59:59 UCF George, Kevan (1) (unassisted) - scored from 22 yards out
3. 62:18 W&M HOXIE, Andrew (2) (McBride, Doug)
4. 80:35 W&M BAAKO, Nathaniel (1) (Hoxie, Andrew; Stowe, Ian)
Shots: UCF 13, William & Mary 14
Saves: UCF 6 (Sean Johnson 6), William & Mary 6 (Andrew McAdams 6)
Corner kicks: UCF 7, William & Mary 3
Offsides: UCF 1, William & Mary 4
Fouls: UCF 10, William & Mary 5