Freshmen usually spend the first couple of weeks taking notes and trying to find the science building. But freshman forward Audrey Barry has spent the first part of her freshman season finding the back of the net.
Barry, who leads William and Mary in scoring, added to her goal total with a strike in the 30th minute Sunday to give the College the 1-0 edge over the University of Richmond at Martin Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.
The goal was the second of the season for Barry, the first coming in the Tribe’s 2-1 victory over No.12 Penn State. The freshman forward scored after a strong run down the right sideline in which she beat two Spider defenders.
After maneuvering past the last line of defense, Barry tucked the ball away inside the far post to give the College a 1-0 lead.
“Well I got past the first one then the last defender was kind of showing me outside
so I kept going and played it far post,” Barry said.
Despite numerous other opportunities, the Tribe out shot Richmond 19 to 6, the College failed to score another goal during the match.
“We had enough possession and enough shots and possession in the danger area to
do much better than we did,” Head Coach John Daly said. “We just weren’t sharp around
the penalty area and a game we should have won three or four to nothing they almost tied.”
Only a strong defensive midfield, led by senior Brittany Lane, sophomore Mallory Schaffer and freshman Ali Heck, kept the Spiders at bay for the entire afternoon, leaving junior goalkeeper Grace Barnard untested in her first start of the season.
Barnard replaced sophomore keeper Katherine Yount, the Tribe’s starter between the post for the first four matches of the fall.
“I just felt that they both needed to play in terms of looking back at past years we’ve
gone with one goalkeeper and the backup hasn’t played and then if she ever had to
play she would be untried and untested,” said Daly.
The story of the game though was Barry’s play and Richmond’s lack of an answer for the freshman forward. Even more impressive than Barry’s play is the fact that she is still learning a new position at the collegiate level.
“At my high school I played a completely different formation and I played a different
position,” Barry said. “All teams play different styles and stuff so in the beginning
I’ve been trying to get used to my new position, our new formation so I’ve just been
doing a lot of thinking and concentrating and trying to get used to how all these
players play since I haven’t played with most of them before.”
Despite the inevitable growing pains associated with being a freshman, Daly has been impressed by Barry’s play.
“We recruited her early and I had no doubt she would be a very good player and she
has exceeded my expectations,” Daly said.
