FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Hampden-Sydney College soccer team dropped a non-conference match with North Carolina Wesleyan College, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon to wrap-up action at the UMW Classic. The Tigers move to 0-2 on the season while the Battling Bishops improve to 1-1.
Junior Gray Sutter/Clinton, N.C. made seven saves on the day to bring his season total up 11 after making four saves the previous game against Johns Hopkins.
Both teams tried to jump out on the board early with senior Josh McCormack/Stafford taking the Tigers' first shot in the second minute with NCWC goalie Tobias Borzel making a save. The Battling Bishops would fire off three of their own in the next four minutes with all three wide of the net.
Senior Cole Burton's shot in the 21st minute looked like it was going in, but it clipped the crossbar and bounced back to preserve the scoreless tie. An offside by the Tigers would lead to a Battling Bishop goal by Baboucarr Njie less than a minute later to allow NCWC to take a 1-0 lead.
The Battling Bishops took advantage of a misplayed ball at the 31:52 mark of the first half when Lorenzo Cocchia found the back to the net to push the NCWC lead to 2-0.
After the break, both teams played even in the second half with the Battling Bishops holding off five of H-SC's 10 shots in the game.
The Tigers led in both saves (7-6) and corner kicks (10-5). NCWC had the advantage in shots (18-10) and shots on goal (9-6).
H-SC will return to the pitch on Wednesday, September 4 when they host Mary Baldwin in its home opener. Kick off is schedule for 7 p.m. at Hellmuth-Gibson Field. The Fighting Squirrels picked up a win in their season opener on the road, 3-1, over Shenandoah on Friday.
