BY UD Athletics
NEWARK – The Delaware men’s soccer team fought back in the second half but could not score the tying goal as the Blue Hens fell to William & Mary, 3-2, Saturday night at Grant Stadium in the CAA Tournament Quarterfinals.
The Blue Hens, competing in the CAA playoffs for the seventh time in the last nine years, finish their 2018 season with a 5-11-1 record. William & Mary, which improved to 6-9-2, advances to the semifinals where the Tribe will take on top-seeded James Madison.
Delaware struck first in the 17th minute when Jake Steinberg dribbled down the left endline and fed a cross to Nathan Edmunds, who spun and fired a low shot into the right corner of the net. However William & Mary equalized just 2:06 later when Julian Ngoh collected a low cross from Graham Guidry and scored from point blank range.
Reeves Trott scored from 10 yards out off a Ryder Bell cross in the 30th minute as the Tribe took a 2-1 lead into the half.
Trott scored his second goal of the night in the 55th minute following a Blue Hen turnover, as Ngoh dropped off a pass and he fired home a shot from 10 yards out.
Delaware answered just 1:54 later when Arno Masson-Viale delivered a cross from the left side that was headed by Steinberg to Ryan Mertz, who blasted a shot into the net from eight yards away to make it a 3-2 game.
The Blue Hens’ best chance the rest of the way came with 10 minutes remaining when Jacob Lemelin’s header off a John Schroeder cross went just wide.
Delaware held an 11-5 advantage in shots and took all five corner kicks in the match, but Tribe goalkeeper Sam Onyeador made four saves to post the victory. Delaware keeper Todd Morton stopped one shot in his final game as a Blue Hen.