ELON, N.C. -- The William & Mary Tribe scored twice in the first 20 minutes and then held off a furious comeback attempt by the Elon Phoenix to earn a 2-1 non-conference men's soccer victory from Rudd Field on Saturday night. The decision upped the Tribe to 3-0-2 while the Phoenix dropped to 2-4-1 on the 2008 season.
Price Thomas put the first marker on the board at the 13:02 mark after taking a Nathan Belcher pass which was threaded between two Elon defenders. It was his first goal of the season.
The William & Mary lead grew to 2-0 just over four minutes later when Belcher took a Doug McBride pass and beat Elon's
Kyle Boerner for the score 17:40 into the game.
Elon pulled to within a goal in the 26th minute. After a Tribe foul, Elon's
Justin Wyatt toed the ball to
Steven Kinney who rocketed a shot just off the inside of the left post and into the back of the net with his first score of the season.
After the break, the Phoenix controlled much of the contest. Elon managed five shots in the final 45 minutes, three of which were put on goal, but denied by Andrew McAdams. The Tribe failed to put any of its four second half shots on goal.
"This was a well-fought college match, especially after the opening 20 minutes," said Elon head coach Darren Powell. "Our guys fought back to put us in position to get something from tonight's game, but we fell a little short. We'll move on and get ready to play North Carolina on Wednesday night."
Boerner finished the game with one save while McAdams grabbed four stops.
The Phoenix was out-shot 13-10 overall, but held a 5-3 edge in shots on goal.
Elon will hit the road for its next two contests, the first of which comes on Wednesday night at nationally-ranked North Carolina. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. start.
-- ELON --
