William and Mary snapped a three-game losing streak with its first Colonial Athletic Association victory of the season as the College (4-7-0, 1-1-0 CAA) downed Towson (3-8-1, 0-2-0 CAA) on a goal by redshirt junior forward Sarah Segan and a six-save performance by junior goalkeeper Katelyn Briguglio, 1-0.
The College took command of the game early on. Segan put up the first shot of the game two minutes in, and although it was blocked by Tigers goalkeeper Megan Collins, it started a series of corner kicks that kept the ball around Towson’s goal. Segan then got her second shot of the game past Collins just five minutes later to put the Tribe up early, 1-0.
15 minutes later, Towson started to get some more time on its offensive side, putting a couple shots on goal. But despite a wave of substitutions, the closest the Tigers got to scoring in the opening half was a shot by forward Evelyn Neidert that ended up thudding off the crossbar. A follow-up header ended up safely in the arms of Briguglio, and the College went into halftime still holding on to the one-goal lead.
After struggling to hold possession in the first half, the Tigers found more traction in the back half of Sunday’s match, getting 10 shots on goal. But despite a flurry of offense in the waning minutes, a combination of misplaced Towson shots and Briguglio saves — including one with just two minutes left — allowed the College to walk away with the win, 1-0.
Segan led the team with three shots on goal; freshman forward Renee Kohler and mid-game substitutes freshman midfielder Grace Santos and senior midfielder Mackenzie Kober also forced the Towson netminder to make saves. The 1-0 score marks Briguglio’s second shutout of the season and her career.
This victory is the first in-conference win of the 2018 season for the Tribe. For Towson, the loss makes it now just one of three teams in the CAA to not yet have a conference victory. The other two teams still looking for a conference victory are Elon and UNC-Wilmington, the latter of which the Tribe faces in its next game Sept. 27 as the team returns to Williamsburg for a two-game homestand.