LYNCHBURG, Va.- The Randolph men's soccer team hosted Bridgewater in the First Round of the ODAC Tournament on a cold Friday night at WildCat Stadium. The WildCats scored twice in the first half and held off an Eagle challenge in the second half to win 3-1.
With the victory, Randolph advances to play top-seeded Hampden-Sydney on Sunday. The game will be played on the Tigers' home field.
The WildCats got on the board in the 18th minute in an unconventional way. A foul on Gabe Krueger (Jacksonville, N.C./White Oak) by Bridgewater's Leo Alcantara inside of the box granted Krueger a penalty kick opportunity. He drilled the ball past a diving Mark Collins and in to put the 'Cats ahead 1-0.
In the 22nd minute, Krueger assisted Noah Carney (Charleston, W.V./Homeschool) on his goal to give the WildCats a 2-0 lead. Randolph had three more shots on frame in the half that were saved by Collins and the lead stood at 2-0 at the break.
In the second half, BC kept the WildCats at bay as Collins picked up back-to-back saves. Krueger nearly had his second goal of the night in the 61st minute but an Eagle defender was there to deflect the ball away.
Bridgewater broke through at 66:36 as Thomas White was able to sneak a shot past WildCat goalkeeper Erick Cortez-Martinez (Winston-Salem, N.C./North Forsyth) to make it 2-1. The Eagles had some life as they looked to get back in the game.
The Randolph defense held the Eagles in check as it kept its one-goal lead. Carney struck again with just over six minutes left to play as his shot was initially taken down by Collins but trickled past the line and in as the WildCats iced the victory.
The WildCats had a commanding 15-3 advantage in total shots and 9-3 on frame. Corner kicks were also largely in Randolph's favor 9-1.
Cortez-Martinez finished with two saves on the night. Collins had five for the Eagles.
The WildCats (10-7-1) will look to exact some revenge on Hampden-Sydney in their quarterfinal match. The two teams played just three days ago in the regular season finale where the Tigers won 3-0. Game time on Sunday will be at 2:00 p.m.
