LEXINGTON, VA - The Hampden-Sydney College soccer team came back from a 1-0 second-half deficit to record their second straight upset in the ODAC Tournament, defeating #6 seed Washington & Lee University on the road. The win sends Hampden-Sydney to the ODAC Champioship game to be played at Lynchburg College on Saturday with a time to be determined.

A very physical game, the refs blew the whistle for 33 fouls and handed out three yellow cards. Even with all the fouls called, the refs still allowed the players to play, which played into the hands of the Tigers.John Robert Plyler (Charlotte, NC/Myers Park) took command of the box all match, coming out in traffic to grab the ball on many corners and free kicks to deny any chance at a header goal or a score off a broken play for Washington & Lee.

H-SC controlled time of possession for about the first 20 minutes of the contest, taking command ofthe midfield while the defense thwarted any attacking opportunity for the Generals. The Tigers had a great scoring chance in the 22nd minute when a Chris Whiteside (Virginia Beach, VA/Frank W. Cox) pass freed open Bryan Wharton (Glen Allen, VA/Deep Run) for a 1v1 opportunity with the goalie on the right side of the box. W&L keeper William Dorrance came out to contest and recorded the save. 

The tide of the game changed midway through the first-half when W&L started bringing in their fresh substitutes off the bench. The subs energized the Generals and and W&L started maintaining possession of the ball. The Generals got a good goal scoring opportunity in the 28th minute off a Colin Hagenbarth header, but Plyler prevented the threat. W&L continued to push on offense but could not register a goal as each team went into halftime scoreless.

Play was back and forth after intermission and a Washington & Lee player sent in a pass from the left that tipped off the fingers of Plyler. It then turned in to a race for the ball with Jamie Paldino sliding to tap the ball into the net to put WLU up 1-0 at the 56:42 mark. One of the few defensive lapses for W&L proved costly for Washington & Lee less than two minutes later as a foul just inside the semicircle at the top of the box gave the Tigers a prime position for an indirect kick. Nick DeProspero (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) tapped the indirect kick straight to Wharton who fired off a rocket into the top 90 that was too hard for Dorrance to tip away.

Hagenbarth, the hero of the quarterfinals for the Generals, had another high quality chance at a goal in the 70th minute but Plyler once again made the save. Washington & Lee had luck on their side in the 74th minute when a Wharton header and a Whiteside shot each were out of reach of the goalie, but a General defender was there each time to prevent the goal. A Tiger foul just outside the top right of the box in the 84th minute gave W&L a dangerous set piece opportunity. Conor Starr fired the shot to the left side of the goal where Plyler saved it but could not control it, and Paldino's shot right in front of the net was blocked.

The Tigers gained possession of the ball and counter attacked. A foul allowed the Tigers to restart and a DeProspero shot was blocked. The ball remained loose and the ball and bounced around like a pinball, but Andrew Berg (Aberdeen, Scotland/International School of Aberdeen) collected the ball and shot it into the upper right 90 where the goalie stood no chance of making a play on the ball, giving the Tigers the 2-1 lead with 4:59 left in regulation.

H-SC packed in the defense as W&L put everyone on the offense. It resulted in some good chances for the Generals, but two of their shots were saved while another was blocked. Each team recorded 16 shots. Goalie play was a big factor in the contest as Dorrance posted seven saves compared to six for Plyler. W&L held a slim 4-3 advantage in corner kicks and committed 19 fouls to 14 for the Tigers.