It's a funny thing when games end in a tie. Teams don't know whether to be happy or sad, encouraged or disheartened.

They often look to what they could have done better rather than what they did right.

Last night both Orange and Culpeper played solid possession soccer and stingy defense.

And when the match ended, as the players walked off the field with chilly bones and a 1-1 deadlock, the homestanding Hornets seemed satisfied while the visiting Blue Devils sensed they let one get away.

"A game like this helps our confidence," Orange striker Ryan Goodsell said. "They're [Group] AAA, so that gives us a boost of energy and some momentum going into next week."

Culpeper striker Rob Peck wasn't so pleased.

"I thought things went badly," he said. "We weren't finishing. We definitely should have won this game."

The disparity in demeanor was partly due to Culpeper's large-school classification--Orange plays in Group AA--and the fact that the Blue Devils are just two seasons removed from being state semifinalists.

But it also had something to do with the way it all went down last night. The Blue Devils thought the game was theirs.

They controlled possession for much of the opening half, and in the 44th minute a cross slid under Orange keeper Will Stanley and squirted toward Peck at the right post. The shaggy-haired senior struck the ball to the back of the net, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 edge.

"Their keeper let the ball slip," Peck said. "It shouldn't have been a goal, but I followed through with it and dropped it in."

Culpeper's defense, led by the steadying influence of senior back Talmage Colvin, afforded Orange few scoring opportunities in the second half. But the Blue Devils also struggled to get open looks.

"I think at times our midfielders weren't finding their targets," Culpeper coach Tim Kearney said, "and I don't think our forwards were giving them targets either."

In the 78th minute the Hornets mounted a quick attack. Thomas Payette gathered the ball on the left side of his team's scoring end and fired a cross to Goodsell near the top right corner of the penalty box.

After settling the offering, Goodsell sent a shot screaming into the left side of the net, knotting the score at 1-all.

"The ball was coming and I didn't want to take too much time so I just popped it and it went in," Goodsell said. "At first I thought it was a bit too hard, but then I saw it hit the back of the net."

Neither team scored in the final two minutes, and the contest went to a 10-minute overtime.

Early in the extra session Goodsell found Payette, who fired a rocket from 30 yards out which squirted wide left. But both teams clamped down on defense over the final nine minutes, and the game ended in a tie.

"There were a couple of missed opportunities," Goodsell said, "but we came out of it with a tie and that's not too bad."

To reach ADAM HIMMELSBACH: 540/374-5442 ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com