William & Mary knocks off No. 8 Old Dominion 2-1 in men’s soccer

Ryan Flesch’s unassisted goal in the final 3:45 lifted the Tribe of William and Mary (3-9-3/1-4-2)  to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over eighth ranked Old Dominion (8-2-2/2-2-2) Wednesday night at the ODU Soccer Complex. The win also gives W&M the first win of the year in the annual Optima Health Challenge between the two schools.

The Monarchs scored first as senior co-captain Chris Harmon (Downingtown, PA.) got a break-a-way pass from fellow senior Yannick Smith (Hillsborough, NJ.) as he chipped it over the Tribe’s Alex Harrington for a 1-0 lead.

For Harmon, that was his seventh goal of the season and third straight (he scored the last two ODU goals Saturday at UNCW).

The Monarchs outshot the Tribe, 16-6 overall, but W&M tied the match with 26 minutes left when Chris Perez hit Marcus Luster off a break and Luster pushed it pass the Monarchs goalkeeper, Victor Francoz (Fleurieu Sur Saone, France) for the equalizer.

The game winner was unassisted by Flesch who shot it into the top right corner of the net. It was his second goal of the season.

ODU came in ranked eight by the NSCAA/Coaches poll, 12th by Soccer America, and College Soccer News and 14th by Soccer Times.
 
W&M  0-2=2
ODU  1-0=1

15:56 ODU  Chris Harmon from Yannick Smith
64:15 W&M  Marcus Luster from Chris Perez
86:15 W&M  Ryan Flesch

Shots: ODU (16), W&M (6)
SOG: ODU (3), W&M (2)
Corners: ODU (5), W&M (2)
Saves: ODU- Francoz (0), W&M – Harrington (2)