WINCHESTER, Va.- The Randolph men's soccer team had a battle on its hands as it faced Shenandoah on Sunday afternoon at Sprint Field at Shentel Stadium. The two schools played to two overtime periods with neither coming out the victor as they played to a 1-1 tie.
Randolph's record is now 3-1-1. The Hornets are 0-4-2.
It was a defensive battle throughout as just a total of 16 shots were taken overall. The WildCats led in shots 10-6 and 4-3 in shots on frame.
Shenandoah had chances in the first 10:12 of play but was called offside on three occasions. A pair of yellow cards was handed out to Randolph's Ben Gries (Lynchburg, Va./Amherst) and Evan Blow (Charlottesville, Va./Charlottesville) in the 21st minute, the second of which granted SU a penalty kick opportunity. The Hornets' Branden Gallant was able to score to give Shenandoah a 1-0 lead. The WildCats had two shots on goal in the last three and a half minutes of game time but could not connect as SU went into the break with its 1-0 lead.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Randolph was able to break through. Kyle May (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook) sent a long pass down the field to Blow who was able to get past a SU defender and beat out the Hornet goalie to score the game-tying goal.
From there on out, it was stellar defensive play that kept either team from scoring again. The WildCats did not allow a shot to the Hornets in either overtime period. It was also a bit of a physical match and at times too physical as a total of seven yellow cards were handed out on the day. Randolph was charged with four and Shenandoah three.
Blow and Noah Carney (Charleston, W.V./Homeschool) had six of Randolph's 10 shots in the game.
Randolph keeper Zach Miles (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville) stopped two shots on the afternoon. His counterpart for Shenandoah, Sam Fischer, had three saves.
The WildCats travel to Bridgewater on Thursday for its rescheduled game from last Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 4:00 p.m.
