Forty Second Spurt Pushes Randolph Past VWC 2-1

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Randolph College scored two goals in 38 seconds during the second half Saturday night to defeat Virginia Wesleyan College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's soccer action.

Both squads battled to a scoreless draw in the first half before Josh Kemp scored on a penalty kick just two minutes into the second half to snare a 1-0 lead for the Marlins at 47:32.

That lead would last until 65:22 when VWC was the recipient of some bad luck that knotted the score. Troy Jurney took a cross for the WildCats, sending it across the box to his forward. The ball never reached its target as it deflected off a Marlin defender and into the net.

Nicolas Rodriguez beat a pair of defenders just 38 seconds later, finding Travis Brown for the game-winning score.

The Marlins had a chance to tie the score in the 87th minute with Randolph keeper Matt Tourbin drawn out of position, but Ryan Kraus' shot went just high over the crossbar to preserve the win for the WildCats, keeping the hosts unbeaten in ODAC play.

Tourbin finished with eight saves for Randolph (7-3-3/4-0-3 ODAC) while Connor Kirkham notched eight saves of his own for VWC.

Randolph had a slight edge in shots (18-17) but maintained an 11-3 margin in corner kicks.

Virginia Wesleyan (5-5-2/2-3-2) hosts Hampden-Sydney College (6-7/1-6) Wednesday at 7 p.m. in ODAC play.