TRIBE 19, RICHMOND 11
After a heartbreaking overtime loss at the hands of no. 2 University of Virginia last Tuesday night in Charlottesville, College of William and Mary Head Coach Christine Halfpenny spoke of the likelihood of the team going on a nine game winning streak.
Fortunately, the win-less University of Richmond was scheduled to go against the College next. The fact that Halfpenny’s women have not beaten the Spiders in the past two seasons created the perfect opportunity to get rid of the bitter taste of last week’s loss to U. Va.
The Tribe (4-4) capitalized on its opportunity, hitting its stride at the end of the first half, reeling off six straight goals. The effort propelled the squad to a 19-11 victory over the Spiders (0-9).
Attacker Ashley Holofcener and midfielder Grace Golden, both sophomores, led the team with 3 goals apiece in the first half, helping the College to an 11-5 intermission advantage, outshooting the Spiders 19-8.
“I think it was a big win. We definitely worked as a team,” Holofcener said, who led the team with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists).
The Spiders came out firing in the second half, notching 3 goals within the first eight minutes. On top of the Richmond barrage, sophomore goalkeeper Emily Geary was replaced by freshman Lauren Binzer seven minutes after the halftime break following an injury. Binzer held off a Spider surge midway through the second half, only allowing 3 tallies for the remainder of the game in her third appearance this season.
behind Spider goalkeeper Erica Marrocco at 17:49, stretching the Tribe’s lead to 12-8. Less than a minute later, junior attacker Mary Zulty scored 1 of her 3 goals off a free position shot, pushing the lead up back to 5.
The College never looked back, and allowed themselves to show some of their depth on the bench. Backup freshman attacker Sally Roberts tallied the second goal of her career with 8:35 remaining in the opening half, triggering 6 unanswered goals in a seven-minute span.
Golden finished with 4 goals and 2 assists. Senior midfielder Claire Dennis added 3 to the Tribe’s scoring and assisted on 1 tally.
Senior midfielder Mandy Friend led the Spiders with 3 goals while Marrocco recorded 11 saves.
The College forced 19 Richmond turnovers, to its own 13 and outshot the Spiders 35-20. The Tribe also owned the advantage in the ground balls category with a 25-17 edge.
The College returns to action when it hosts no. 17 Penn State University Saturday. The contest is slated for Albert-Daly Field at 1 p.m.
“We hope we can learn something from this game. Penn State is just like us, so we will be looking for an improvement in play,” Halfpenny said.
The Nittany Lions enter the contest on a four-game losing streak, all to top 11 foes. Penn State opened the season 4-0, before struggling of late. The only common opponent between the two squads is the University of Virginia. Both teams have recorded overtime loses to the Cavaliers.
