NEWARK, Del. - The
William and Mary women's soccer team fell at Delaware, 1-0, on Friday night
from Delaware Mini-Stadium. After a
scoreless opening half, in which the Tribe generated multiple dangerous
opportunities, the Blue Hens connected on the game-winner in the 51st
minute. For the night, the College held
a decisive edge in shots, 18-10, but was unable to get on the scoreboard. With the loss, the Tribe falls to 11-4
overall and 5-1 in CAA play, while Delaware improves to 8-6 on the year and 5-2
in league action.
"We didn't have our best tonight," stated head coach John
Daly. "Our first half performance was poor as we didn't connect our passes
nearly enough to our capability or expectations. We improved in the second half, but poor
defending gave them a chance, which they took. We stepped things up and
pressured them for the last 15 minutes. Had we fought that hard early we would
have done better. Overall, it was a very disappointing performance and we need
to pick things up significantly for Sunday."
Within the first 20 minutes of play, the Tribe's attack was
on the verge of scoring on more than one occasion. Junior Dani Rutter put W&M's first
attempt on frame in the 18th minute, but the York, Pa., native was turned away
by UD's Jess Figueroa. Moments later,
junior Ali Heck cranked another attempt on goal, but Figueroa made another
quality stop. With time winding down in
the first stanza, senior Cortlyn Bristol looked to break the stalemate however,
the Chantilly, Va., native's fourth attempt of the half resulted in a save. In the opening 45 minutes, the Green and Gold
outshot the Blue Hens, 12-6, but UD owned a slight edge in shots on goal, 5-4.
In second-half action, Delaware broke the deadlock after
Chelsea Duff's shot from 22 yards away via the middle of the pitch, slipped
into the upper right netting of goal.
Thereafter, W&M staged multiple attacks on the Blue Hens frame with
its best look coming courtesy of sophomore Emory Camper. Once again Figueroa, who finished the contest
with eight saves, turned away the Virginia Beach, Va., native's equalizing
attempt in the 78th minute.
For the match, W&M outshot Delaware, 18-10, while the
Blue Hens held the advantage in shots on goal, 9-5. Both squads finished the night generating two
corner kick opportunities, while UD was whistled for 10 fouls compared to the
College's five. Tribe freshman keeper
Caroline Casey played all 90 minutes between the posts and finished the night
collecting five saves.
The Tribe returns to action on Sunday, as it travels to
Drexel for a match slated to get underway at 1 p.m. Fans can follow the Drexel action online at
TribeAthletics.com with live stats.
Additionally, fans can watch the action live free of charge courtesy of
DrexelDragons.com.
