VIRGINIA BEACH -- Randolph-Macon College's Yellow Jackets stole momentum with a goal in the final seconds to close the first half Saturday in a 2-2 deadlock with Virginia Wesleyan College on Foster Field at the Trinder Center.
But, the host Marlins did not waste time in taking it back, and keeping it, in the second half.
Travis Puls (Ellicott City, Md./Baltimore Mt. St. Joseph) took the sting out of the Jackets' first-half ending goal by firing in a shot just 49 seconds into the third quarter. The score pushed Virginia Wesleyan into a 3-2 lead and the Marlins stayed in front to, the final horn, posting an impressive 8-4 victory in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Virginia Wesleyan (4-3), which posted it third consecutive win, played a consistently aggressive defensive game that forced Randolph-Macon into hurried shots that ended up wide or high, but not in the net. VWC senior goalie Tyler Keech (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) was key in that effort, recording 11 saves overall, including seven in the final two quarters.
The Jackets, who entered the game averaging 13 goals per game, were held to their lowest total of the season to date. The loss was just the second in eight outings for R-MC, whose only other loss was an 18-12 decision to then No. 19 ranked St. John Fisher College.
VWC created some distance in the third quarter when junior Adam Nycz (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois)scored with 2:51 on the clock, assisted by Ryan McArthur (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron).
Leading 4-2 entering the final quarter, the Marlins played an alert game at both ends of the field and eventually found the offensive breaks to pull away. Puls helped make that happen, firing in back-to-back goals in a little more than a two-minute span. Jeremiah Clester (Union Bridge, Md./Linganore) and Devon Heath (Virginia Beach/Bishop Sullivan) came through with the assists on the goals that ignited the large crowd.
Randolph-Macon snapped VWC's four-goal run a couple mintues later however, when Taylor Wicke (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield-Warde) got the ball to Tyler Midwinter (Hamilton, Ontario/Barton) for the shot and score that cut the Marlins' lead to 6-3 with 5:35 remaining to be played.
It was as close as the Jackets would get though, as the VWC partisan crowd fired up again when Mikey Connors (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) and Brian Dressler (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) scored back-to-back goals in the final two minutes to repad the Marlins' lead. Nick Northern (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) and Puls assisted on the goals that iced the win.
VWC scooped up 28 grounds balls, led by Nycz with five.
Puls finished with three goals for the Marlins, who also got a goal each from Adam Adamson (Marriottsville, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) and McArthur. Heath and Puls led the team with two assists each.
Patrick Egan (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) led R-MC with two goals. Jason Crawford (Burlington, Ontario/Brock) protected the goal for the Jackets and recorded 11 saves.
Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Saturday, Mar. 26, in Greensboro, N.C. against the Quakers of Guilford College at 1 p.m.
--AMDG--
