WILLIAMSBURG, Va. ­– The College of William & Mary scored twice in the span of eight minutes Tuesday night, turning what had been a scoreless match into a 2-0 victory over visiting Loyola University Maryland in non-conference action.
 
The Tribe (1-4-2 overall) started its offensive momentum in the 55^th minute when it had three shots form inside 12 yards. Two were blocked and one went wide, but William & Mary broke through in the 58^th minute when it had possession on the left side of the box. After a player got through a Loyola tackle, Nathan Messer sent a low pass across the middle of the 18 to Justin Ngoh who collected it and shot it into the upper-right corner of the goal at 57:47 to make it 1-0 Tribe.
 
Diba Nwegbo added to the lead nearly eight minutes later when he redirected a low, hard free kick from just out the right part of the box by Derin Kokuuslu with a header into the right-side netting to make it 2-0.
 
The Greyhounds' best second-half chance came in the 73^rd minute as Davey Mason ran up the sideline and crossed a ball inside the six where Brian Saramago was able to get a head on it to direct it low to the center of the goal; William & Mary goalkeeper Kieran Baskett, however, was there to save it.
 
Loyola (2-5-0) then had two corner kicks in a 70-second span over the 75^th and 76^th minutes, but both were headed away by the Tribe defense.
 
In the 83^rd minute, a William & Mary yellow card gave the Greyhounds a free kick from the top-left edge of the 18 that Barry Sharifi floated inside the six. It was played out where Sam Brown got a good strike on the ball, but it was blocked by a Tribe defender and away from harm.
 
The Greyhounds had chances early in the first half that did not result in direct shots, but it kept the pressure on William & Mary's defense.  Sharifi served a long free kick into the box during the 14^th minute where Justin Ingram flicked it into the six, but the Tribe back line recovered to clear it away.
 
Moments later, Nico Brown sent a cross from the top-left of the box to Saramago in the middle-right. Saramago's header in space slipped just left of the goal mouth and out of bounds, thwarting the chance.
 
William & Mary had its best opportunity to score in the 19^th minute when Reeves Trott took a shot from inside the six that clanged off the right post and into the hands of Loyola goalkeeper Chase Vosvick.
 
Sharifi and Saramago both had open, albeit deep looks from well outside the 18 in the coming minutes. Sharifi's went high, but Saramago struck his hard and on-frame in the 28^th minute, forcing to make a diving save to his right to preserve the first-half scoreless draw.
 
Loyola finished with a marginal 11-10 advantage in shots, but it had a large gap in corner kicks, leading 8-2.
 
The Greyhounds return to Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday, September 28, to open a Loyola doubleheader at 12 noon when they play the U.S. Naval Academy in Patriot League action. The Greyhounds women follow at 3:30 p.m. with a contest against College of the Holy Cross.