Tiger Soccer Drops Overtime Heartbreaker to Lynchburg 2-1

LYNCHBURG, VA - The Hampden-Sydney College soccer team faced big deficits in shots and corner kicks, but the Tigers took the Lynchburg College Hornets to overtime and eventually fell 2-1 on the road in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.

The first-half was evenly contested with Lynchburg holding a slim 7-5 advantage in shots, but Matt Hampton (Virginia Beach, VA/Kellam) converted a header shot from a Nick DeProspero (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) corner kick to go up 1-0 at the 29:54 mark. The two squads combined for just three shots on goal the entire half as defense was the name of the game.

The second-half was a different story as the Hornets held a 19-4 advantage in shots after intermission. H-SC did a good job forcing LC into difficult shots as the majority of shots sailed wide, but Donald Hart III found the back of the net off a Stephen Brooks pass in the 75th minute. LC fired off eight more as John Robert Plyler (Charlotte, NC/Myers Park) tallied three saves in the final 15 minutes of regulation. The Tigers received help from the goal as well as a Zach Ward hit a shot off the top crossbar.

Just shortly over five minutes into the overtime session, Michael Abbonizio collected a loose ball in front of the net and pocketed the game-winning tally for the Hornets. Lynchburg held a 27-9 advantage in shots and a 10-3 edge in corner kicks. Plyler recorded five saves in 95:19 in the net.

The Tigers go back on the road to play Greensboro College on Wednesday at at 4 p.m.