GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Christian Torres (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) netted the game-tying goal with 5:50 left in regulation and Eric Hayes (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale) made ten saves as the Quakers and Virginia Wesleyan College played to a Saturday night Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) draw, 1-1. The game marks the Quakers’ fifth overtime game of the season and their third draw in four games.
Virginia Wesleyan (6-5-4, 2-2-3 ODAC) held an early possession advantage for the first ten minutes as they fired four shots before Guilford (5-7-3, 0-3-3 ODAC) earned their first corner kick. Both sides traded a pair of shots for the next 18 minutes until Alex Surprise earned a throw-in in the 29th minute. Off the throw-in, he connected with Tyler Pratt, who chipped a pass to Tanner Martin in front of the six-yard box for the game’s first goal. The Marlins would hold on to momentum for the rest of the first half, out-shooting the Quakers after the goal, 5-1, to close out the final 17 minutes of the period.
Possession started even over the first 12 minutes of the second half as both sides traded a pair of shots entering into the middle of the period. The Quakers began to gain the possession advantage in the latter stage of the period as Guilford fired eight of the next nine shots over a 15-minute span leading up to the 80th minute. After two more shots from Mark Dandanell, Ricky Aguilar fired a long pass from the right midfield to find Torres, who beat goalie Jay Fox on the right side to tie the game.
Virginia Wesleyan out-shot the Quakers, 4-2, in the first overtime period, but the Quakers forced Fox to make a save with Dandanell running towards Fox with an opportunity to chip the ball over him to win the game.
Guilford held the possession advantage for the second overtime, holding a 2-1 edge on shots, continuing to pressure Fox as both sides finished the contest even.
The Marlins held a narrow 28-25 shot advantage over the Quakers thanks to a 13-3 advantage through one half. Guilford held the advantage on shots from the second half to the end of the game, 22-15. The Quakers held the edge on corner kicks, 7-4.
Hayes made ten saves in net for his second consecutive ten-save effort. He now tallies 29 saves in the last three games. Fox stopped eight shots for the Marlins.
The Quakers return to action Monday, facing Lynchburg College for a 7 p.m. ODAC contest in a contest rescheduled from September 28th due to thunderstorms.