RICHMOND, Va. - The
William and Mary Tribe women's soccer team beat the Marshall Thundering Herd on
Sunday afternoon, 4-0, to sweep its two matches at the VCU Tournament. With the win, the Tribe improves its record
to 3-0 on the season, while the Herd falls to 1-2 on the year. After winning both its matches at the VCU
Tournament, the Tribe were declared tournament champions.
The Tribe was led by sophomore Dani Rutter, who scored the
game-winning goal and dished out a pair of assists on the day. Also scoring goals for the College were
junior Erin Liberatore and freshmen Anna Madden and Emory Camper. Senior Diana Weigel, junior Mallory Schaffer,
Liberatore, and freshman Aly Shaughnessy all had assists in the victory. Junior Katherine Yount made two saves while
posting her third shutout of the season.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, four Tribe
players were named to the VCU All-Tournament Team. Freshman Emily Fredrikson was named VCU
Tournament MVP following her solid all-around play. Also earning
All-Tournament Team honors were Rutter, Camper, and Schaffer. Rutter totaled two goals and two assists on
the weekend, while Camper had two assists and Schaffer one.
With its 4-0 win over Marshall on Sunday afternoon, the
Tribe has opened the season with three-straight shutout wins for just the
second time in program history. The last
time the College accomplished the feat was during the 1993 season when W&M
started the year with four-straight shutout victories.
The Tribe jumped out to an early lead over the Herd, scoring
in the 6th minute of the match. With the
Tribe on the attack, Schaffer found Liberatore on the right side of the 18-yard
box. Liberatore then found Rutter in
space in the box, who took the pass around 12 yards out. Rutter took her shot, finishing to the right,
giving the College a 1-0 advantage over Marshall.
In the 17th minute, the Green and Gold doubled its lead over
the Herd. After a Marshall turnover, the
ball was collected by Rutter. Rutter
turned and found a streaking Liberatore down the middle of the pitch, who had
beaten the Herd defender. After faking
from 12 yards out to get the keeper out of position, Liberatore dribbled right
and fired, scoring her first goal of the season.
With the score 2-0, the Tribe added a third goal just over five
minutes. Again the College took
advantage of a Marshall turnover, as Shaughnessy collected the ball and found
Madden down the right-center of the field.
Madden out-ran the Marshall backs, finishing from eight yards out to the
goalie's left. Madden's second goal of
the season gave the Tribe a 3-0 lead headed in to the halftime break.
At the break, the numbers reflected just how much the
College was able to dominate the first 45 minutes. The Tribe out-shot the Herd, 8-3, with
W&M getting five shots on goal to Marshall's 0. Corner kicks were even at 1-1.
In the 65th minute, the College pushed its lead to 4-0 on a
great looking attack. With the Tribe
controlling possession, Weigel found Rutter along the left side of the
pitch. Rutter sent a cross in to the
box, finding Camper on the right. Camper
finished well, heading the ball in to the lower right hand corner for her first
collegiate goal. With 25 minutes left,
the Tribe led Marshall, 4-0.
The Tribe continued to threaten in the last 25 minutes, but
was unable to get another score. For the
match, the College out-shot the Herd, 17-11, with W&M getting an impressive
11 shots on goal. Through three matches
this season, the Tribe has out-shot its opponents, 58-20. So far this year, the Green and Gold is
averaging 19.3 shots a match and 3.7 goals a contest.
The William and Mary Tribe women's soccer team will return
to Williamsburg to host the Nike Tribe Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott
Invitational on September 2-4. The
College will open the tournament against Georgetown on Friday, September
2. Kickoff at Martin Family Stadium is
scheduled for 7 p.m.
