Elon WSOC Settles for Draw after Late William & Mary Penalty

ELON, N.C. – Reena Wichmann made an immediate impact as a substitute and scored in the first half, and Meredith Christopher put the Phoenix in front 2-1 in the 63rd minute. However, William & Mary was awarded a penalty with just 53 seconds remaining in regulation and converted from the spot and the Elon University women’s soccer team settled for a 2-2 double overtime draw on Thursday, Oct. 5, at Rudd Field.

BOX SCORE

“It was a great sporting event tonight,” said head coach Chris Neal. “I’m very proud of our kids. Credit to William and Mary’s players for battling back from a goal down twice, but I thought we deserved better tonight. For most of the game we were the better team. We had some good chances but were unable to finish them off.”

The Phoenix moves to 8-4-3 overall and 1-2-2 in CAA play after earning the draw for a point in conference play. William & Mary becomes 4-8-2 overall and 0-3-2 in CAA action after the tie.

HIGHLIGHTS
Tori Baliatico nearly put the Phoenix in front in the 13th minute. Christopher played a cross into the box and Baliatico’s header from eight yards clanked off the crossbar.

William & Mary created several chances in the first 25 minutes, while its best chance coming in the 20th minute when Rachel Moore’s shot attempt was saved by Hanna Macaulay.

Wichmann then made an immediate impact as a substitute coming into the match in the 29th minute and scored her second goal of the season less than 10 seconds after entering the match to give the Phoenix a 1-0 lead. Christopher laid the ball off to Wichmann, the Bremen, Germany international took a touch, and finished from 12 yards inside the right of the box into the lower left corner.

Each team was even on shots after 45 minutes with six apiece and the Phoenix held a 1-0 lead at halftime.

The Tribe answered just under seven minutes into the second half to tie up the match. Sami Grasso got behind the Phoenix defense and finished her shot past Macaulay to level the match at 1-1 in the 52nd minute.

Christopher scored her CAA-leading sixth goal of the season in the 63rd minute to put Elon back in front 2-1. She beat a William & Mary defender, cutting her opponent to the inside of the box, and placed her shot off the inside of the right post.

In the 90th minute, the Phoenix committed a penalty inside its own box on a William & Mary free kick and the Tribe’s Sarah Segan converted from the spot to level the match with 53 seconds to play, sending the match to overtime.

Carson Jones created the best chance for the Phoenix in the 97th minute, but her shot inside the box was blocked by a William & Mary defender. Christopher also had a shot blocked in the 103rd minute of the second overtime period, and the Phoenix had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

The shots for the match were even at 17-17, but William & Mary had the slight 3-2 edge in corners. Hanna Macaulay made six saves and moved to 6-3-2 overall with the draw.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Rudd Field on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 8, to face reigning CAA Champion Northeastern at noon.