After two wins in matches last week against Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion, William and Mary travelled to Richmond to face off against the Spiders Saturday. The Tribe was looking to extend its winning streak to three against its third-straight in-state opponent and to pick up its first victory away from Martin Family Stadium on the season.
The Spiders (6-2) got off to a fast start against the College (4-5). The Tribe struggled to maintain possession in the first 20 minutes, only putting the ball on net once. The Spiders opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game on a goal by attacker Katie Trainer. The Spiders added three more goals in the next nine minutes, including two goals within 24 seconds, scored by attacker Marissa Brown and midfielder Katie Sciandra.
After the Spiders extended their lead to 4-0, the College tightened up on defense and held them scoreless for nearly 12 minutes. However, the Tribe was not able to close the gap, and the Spiders added two more goals in the last six minutes of the half to give them a 6-0 advantage at the break.
The Spiders continued to gain momentum at the start of the second half, scoring the first goal of the half just 17 seconds after the opening whistle. Brown tallied the goal for the Spiders for her second goal of the evening. Just two minutes later, midfielder Julia Schmuckler scored her second goal for the game to bring the Spiders’ lead to 8-0.
The Spiders continued to pad their lead with two more goals, including a third tally from Brown to complete the hat trick and give them a 10-0 lead six minutes into the second half.
After the Spiders racked up another goal to put the Tribe down 11-0, the College finally broke its scoring drought on an unassisted goal by freshman attacker Sophie Kopec with just under 21 minutes remaining. Her goal cut the Tribe’s deficit to 10, but the College was unable to further cut into the lead as both teams went scoreless over the next nine minutes. The game ended uneventfully, as the Spiders piled up another four goals to coast to a 15-1 victory. They were led by Brown’s hat trick and Sciandra’s four goals, while Kopec scored the Tribe’s lone goal.
The Tribe will look to bounce back when it returns to action next week with two more games. Wednesday, the College will travel to Liberty as it searches for its elusive first road victory. The Tribe will then play its fifth game of the season at home, trying to stay undefeated at Martin Family Stadium as it takes on University of California-Davis next Saturday.