Hokies Unable to Pull Away From Draw with William and Mary

The in-state foes met for the 12th time on Thompson Field, with Tech head coach Charles “Chugger” Adair entering the contest with a perfect 5-0 record against the Tribe.

Without a matchup since 2022, the opening minutes of play were a slow, meticulous, feeling out process. The Hokies had a few early opportunities to take an early lead, with both Midfielder Syri Davis looking for early through balls and Taylor Price attempting early crosses to no avail.

William and Mary tried to keep its defense pesky and stout, forcing repeated throw-ins for the Hokies, before Tech was finally able to break through down the right side of the field, led by Ella Valente.

Valente shimmied her and the ball around Tribe defender Leila Greene before sending a cross over the box, which was deflected slowly towards the top of the box. Freshman Hannah Pachan was eyeing the ball trickling towards her at the top of the arc, when she was able to send a roller past Gwen Doughty for the opening score of the match in the 19th minute.

“I saw it slow rolling to me, so I knew I had one touch to just pick a corner… I was in the right position and I was able to get my foot on it good, the whole buildup, which led to the goal really helped and everything… it was really just a sitter for me,” said Pachan.

After the Hokies went ahead in the first half, the offensive attack slowed down, allowing William and Mary to control the majority of the possession towards halftime as it looked for an equalizer. Any chance the Hokies had after their opening goal to create an opportunity was nullified by stellar midfield defending from Lindsay Wilson and Ella Ledwith.

“I thought we were ok in the first half. We were moving the ball, created some chances, needed to be better in the final third,” said Adair.

The Tribe had the second half kick-off, which allowed the first-half possession control to spill over past halftime. In the 58th minute, just as Tech was looking to start a drive down the pitch, William and Mary forward Ivey Crain jumped in front of the outlet pass from Hokies goalkeeper Lauren Hargrove, giving Crain a wide open goal inside the box, picking up her third goal in four matches to even up the battle in Blacksburg.

A minute later at the 59’ mark, the Hokies already found themselves pressuring William and Mary for the lead back, with a line-drive corner kick ultimately coming at the feet of defender Madi Boutot. Boutot started a duet of passes which led to a blistering right-footed finish from Valente, picking up the go-ahead goal. 

As quickly as the Tribe had felt new life, knotting the game up at one goal a piece, they were quickly thrown back into searching for another equalizer. Five minutes after falling one back again, midfielder Alyssa Kenealy forced a turnover inside Tech’s own score.

Kenealy sent a cross through to the box after gaining her positioning, which was struck back out towards Wilson. Wilson awaited the ball with a solid first touch, grounding the ball directly in front of her with a clean look at the goal, finishing the goal off with her left foot to knot the game up once more, 2-2.

The relentless efforts of the Hokies to capture this home victory did not let up after another heartbreaking equalizer. The pressure remained on the Tribe now to not fall back once more, and they would again in the 71’.

Freshman Ellie Robertson used a wide open pass-in, setting up forward Taylor Lewin with a 20 yard lob pass over the defense, allowing Lewin to levitate up and head the ball over Doughty for the Hokies third go-ahead goal. Lewin’s goal was her first of the campaign.

The mentality for the Tribe was now to search for one final leveler to salvage a draw, being down on three separate occasions on the road. With Tech looking to drain out the remainder of the clock, keeping the ball in William and Mary’s half would be best. 

Hargrove looked to send the goal kick far downfield, inching down towards the 89’, but the Tribe intercepted the ball, starting an offensive push from Wilson. A long pass from Ellie Leffler gave Brooke Oswald a look to send a heartbreaking ball in the back of the net. 

Oswald dribbled in towards the top of the box, stopping her momentum to allow a look at the goal, drawing Hargrove out of the net in the process. Oswald quickly sent a floater over the head of Hargrove in to find the final score, 3-3.

In a game where the Hokies never trailed, and held the lead for over 50 minutes, a draw can end up feeling like a loss, the positives were for the Hokies to grow upon entering conference action this week.

“I was disappointed in the second half… the second half was a little bit sloppier along the back… and then we’re making the game crazier than it should be,” said Adair.

Tech is back in action at home on Thursday, September 11, for ACC competition against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and coverage for the contest will be available on the ACC Network and ESPN.