This post was written by Hatchet reporter Barbara Alberts.
Defending an undefeated record at home, the Colonials ended 110 minutes of play Wednesday afternoon in a 2-2 double-overtime draw against VCU in their second conference game of the season.
While GW remained unbeaten at the Mount Vernon Campus in 2016, head coach Craig Jones said the match was an unusual one for a defense that has usually been rock-solid this fall.
“We gave two goals away on set plays and I don’t think we have all season so that was a little uncharacteristic,” Jones said. “Maybe it’s a good wake-up call for us in the remaining games in the A-10.”
The contest marked the first meeting between the two sides since then-No. 8 seed VCU upset the first-seeded Colonials in round one of the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship last November.
The Colonials (5–2–4, 0–0–2 A-10) nabbed an early lead 10 minutes into the game when senior midfielder Garrett Heine put a rocket of a shot into the bottom right corner of the net off a free kick just outside the 18-yard box.
A diving save made by sophomore goalkeeper Thor Arne Hofs robbed VCU (3–5–2, 1–0–0 A-10) of their first goal 22 minutes into the game, one of five total stops Hofs would make on the day.
Tensions ran high between the teams as each failed to gain consistent momentum. The first half ended with four yellow cards, three of which were assessed to GW players.
The second half ushered in what seemed to be a whole new game, with the Rams coming out of halftime with a more controlled game.
VCU’s equalizing goal came in the 57th minute off a free kick, when a scramble in the penalty box resulted in redshirt senior midfielder Dakota Barnathan poking the ball low in the net.
Less than 15 minutes later, a header off a corner kick by redshirt junior Francesco Amorosino gave the visitors their first lead of the game, but it didn’t take long for the Colonials to answer back.
Sophomore forward Dylan Lightbourn scored the equalizer from a header off a corner kick by freshman midfielder George Dise, a near carbon copy of his game-winner against Navy on Sept. 11.
Lightbourn now leads the Colonials’ offense with a team-best four goals on the season.
The Colonials were unable to capitalize on any opportunities in overtime, with another header from Lightbourn just missing the net.
A flurry of shots in the last minute of the game gave GW its closest shot at the lead, but the Colonials were unable to find the go-ahead and the game ended in a stalemate.
Wednesday’s decision marked the fifth overtime game for the Colonials this season. All five have resulted in draws.
“I’m getting a little sick of these ties,” senior midfielder Oliver De Thier said.
Despite the non-win, De Thier – who was named A-10 Co-Offensive Player of the Week for his game-winning goal against St. Francis Brooklyn on September 28 – was proud of his team’s resilience Wednesday.
“I think it showed a lot of character coming back [from being down], digging deep when we were tired already having played a 110-minute game last Saturday [against Fordham]. It was good for our team,” he said.
The Colonials travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday to take on Duquesne at 7 p.m., still in search of their first conference win and their seventh clean sheet.
“Our goal every game is to keep a shutout. We didn’t do that today but it’s a goal every game,” senior defender Tobi Adewole said. “Mentality is just keep up the high pressure that we usually play, get goals, keep a clean sheet, be aggressive.”
