Rookie Kraus Provides Insurance in 2-0 Victory

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- First-year forward Ryan Kraus scored an insurance goal for the Marlins in the second half as the Virginia Wesleyan College men's soccer team defeated Eastern Mennonite University 2-0 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action Wednesday night.

The Marlins scored first in the initial half when Travis Walke put away a rebound of an Alex Castelli corner kick just over 10 minutes into play.

Eastern Mennonite had plenty of opportunities as shots sailed just wide or into the arms of Marlin keeper Connor Kirkham.

The Royals had a good chance to tie the contest at the 39 minute mark when Jonathan Bush found a brief opening at the top of the box, but his right-footed shot was saved by a diving Kirkham to his right.

The much-needed insurance tally came at 60:50 when Kirkham punted the ball towards midfield where it was instantly corralled by Kraus. With the defense slightly out of position, Kraus dribbled into the box and sent a blast past Overacker for his first collegiate goal.

EMU turned up the pressure late with two shots in the final three minutes but one point-blank opportunity sailed high while the other attempt was stopped by Kirkham.

Virginia Wesleyan outshot Eastern Mennonite (2-6/0-2 ODAC) 18-16 while maintaining a 6-4 edge in corner kicks.

Overacker made seven saves for EMU as Kirkham stopped five balls for Virginia Wesleyan to pick up his third shutout of the year.

Virginia Wesleyan (4-2-1/1-0-1) returns home Saturday night for a 7 p.m. ODAC start with Washington and Lee University (3-2-1/1-0).