Box Score For Immediate Release – 10/18/16 - #090
WildCats Battle #14 LC in Derby Draw
LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College men's soccer team hosted 14th-ranked Lynchburg College in the 15th Hill City Derby on Tuesday night. After 110 minutes of physicality between the two rivals, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) contest ended in a scoreless draw.
Even without any goals, the game certainly did not lack excitement. Right from the get go, both teams were in attack mode. Shots were fired, but nothing went near either goalkeeper in the first 15 minutes. Brian Anderson had one of the best early attempts, but his shot was deflected. In the 16th minute, Lynchburg had the first shot on goal, but Erick Cortez-Martinez was there for the easy save.
Things would get significantly harder for Cortez-Martinez only a few minutes later. LC took a free kick outside the box and after it was initially cleared, it came back into the box on a cross. Cortez-Martinez made a leaping save to preserve the zeros. The Hornets continued to post shots, but the backline of Cristian Irigoyen, Frankie DiOrio, Austin Davidson, and Anthony Quinn did a good job of blocking anything. It was highlighted by Adam Watson clearing a ball off the line at the near post. Cortez-Martinez would make two more saves in the half, keeping the score at 0-0.
The second half saw momentum flip to the other side of the Hill City. The 'Cats had several early chances and almost put the ball in the back of the net on a couple of them. In the 50th minute, Kyle Unruh beat Hornet goalie Dylan McLaurin to a ball but ran out of running room. Less than a minute later, Watson found himself in a similar position after a long ball, but he could not get a shot off.
The Hornets reverted to counter-attacking and nearly got one in the 56th, but Davidson caught a player from behind and kicked it out of bounds.
Great Chances would be few and far between over the remainder of the second half, but when they came, they were big. Travis Brown made a great run on the ball in the 70th minute, and went for a desperation header. McLaurin was there to knock it away at the last moment. Then with less than four minutes in regulation, LC had a shot at close range. Cortez-Martinez stopped it, and a Hornet almost finished the rebound, but the WildCat made the big save.
The overtime provided more shots on both sides, but the WildCats had the two best opportunities. Near the start of the first, Anderson came on the ball in the box and ripped a shot at the net. However, McLaurin was there to make the diving stop. Then near the start of the second OT, DiOrio sent a shot at goal, but it just went left of the mark, meaning the game would end in a 0-0 tie.
Cortez-Martinez made seven saves to preserve his fifth clean sheet of the year. The 'Cats had more corner kicks (6-3), but were just barely outshot (21-17) by the Hornets (10-1-3 overall, 4-0-1 ODAC).
Randolph (7-3-4, 2-1-3) will hit the road for its final regular-season away game. The WildCats square off with their second-straight top-15 program on Saturday, traveling to #11 Washington and Lee University (11-3, 5-1) for a noon kickoff.
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