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LISA PURDY -- The Flat Hat
Sophomore Brannon Thomas steps up to control the ball. The Tribe lost to Navy, 1-0, this week.
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Soccer falls to Navy, 1-0
By Justin Huffman
Flat Hat Staff Writer
Thursday, men's soccer beat the University of North Carolina--Wilmington in the quarterfinals of the CAAs, 6-0. The win was a relief for the team after two tough losses.
The Tribe went on the road last week to take on American University and the Naval Academy. In both games the team held a statistical advantage, out-shooting the two teams 32-22 total, winning six more corner kicks and forcing opposing goalkeepers to make seven more saves. Despite the strong statistical performance, however, the Tribe lost both matches.
American handed the Tribe a 3-0 loss and the Naval Academy pulled out a 1-0 victory. The losses put W&M in a must-win situation in Virginia Beach this weekend at the CAA tournament. By losing their final two games the Tribe also lost a chance at an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.
At-large bids are usually based on a team's recent record, and despite a solid season in and out of the top 25 rankings, the Tribe have fallen short as of late.
"There will be no at-large bid this year, only an automatic bid if we win the CAA tournament this weekend," Head Coach Al Albert said. "Maybe if we had won a game last week and had a strong showing at the tournament, but now we must focus on winning."
Albert feels the team is still playing well heading in to this weekend's games.
"We didn't score against Navy or American but we didn't play badly," he said. "The ball just would not drop in the net."
The Tribe heads into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will take on sixth-seeded UNC-W in the opening round.
W&M defeated the UNC-W Seahawks in their final home game of the season, 3-0. Juniors Carlos Garcia and Doug Henry netted goals, along with sophomore Alex Brown.
UNC-W's Seahawks (3-14, 0-5) are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, in which they have only scored four goals.
Old Dominion University (8-6-2, 3-0-2) takes the CAA's top seed for second time in three years. The ODU Monarchs are lead by CAA Player of the Year Attila Vendegh and have already defeated W&M 3-2 in double overtime earlier this season. ODU receives a first round bye along with second-seeded James Madison University (10-5-1, 3-1-1).
Ranked 23rd nationally, the JMU Dukes are possibly the conference's best team as they head into the tournament. The Dukes used their physical play to beat the Tribe 2-1 Oct. 20.
If W&M and JMU meet in the tournament it should be an interesting game, as the Dukes will look to avenge last year's championship game loss to the Tribe.
W&M (10-8-1, 3-2) has won four of the last six CAA championships. The tournament's No. 4 is Virginia Commonwealth University. After starting 2-0-1 in conference play, the VCU Rams have finished 7-9-2 overall and 2-2-1 in the CAA.
The Tribe beat the Rams 3-2 in overtime Nov. 3. VCU has had recent success in the tournament, making it to the finals in 1999, where they lost to the Tribe.
George Mason University (8-9, 2-3) is the fifth seed and hopes CAA Rookie of the Year John O'Hara can continue his solid play in goal. W&M was able to defeat GMU 2-1 in overtime Oct. 27.
Next the Tribe advances to play No. 2 JMU at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
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