HARRISONBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's soccer team picked up a 2-0 victory over Big East foe Providence to open its 2017 season in the JMU Invitational in Harrisonburg on Friday evening. Freshman
Erin Dailey and senior
Elysse Branton scored in the victory. With the win, the Tribe improves to 1-0, while the Friars fall to 0-1.
Despite Providence recording the first two shots of the match, W&M jumped on the board with a goal in the 17th minute. Senior
Haley Kent raced up the left wing, before sending a low cross through traffic. Waiting on the other end was Dailey, who finished from six yards out putting the Tribe up 1-0.
The Friars did hold a 7-3 advantage in shots thanks to a late half rally. However the goalkeeping tandem of senior
Samantha Johnson and sophomore
Katelyn Briguglio kept Providence at bay. Johnson recorded one save, while Birguglio came on in relief to make two.
W&M controlled the tempo in the second half, and limited Providence to just two second half shots, neither of which came on goal. Meanwhile, the Tribe fired six shots in the second half, including its second goal of the match.
In the 66th minute, Branton doubled the Tribe's lead. Senior
Sami Grasso and Branton played give-and-go at the top of the box, before Branton made a defender miss and placed her shot in the back of the net from 12-yard's out.
William & Mary Starters: Johnson (GK), Grasso, Dailey, Branton, Moore, Segan, Kelly, Kent, Robbins, Hyland, Keith
Providence Starters: Hogan (GK), Duserick, Hayman, Estey, Day, Pellegrinni, Arace, Rodgers, Doherty, Steeves, Birchwell
Goals
17': Erin Dailey (W&M) (Assist: Haley Kent)
66': Elysse Branton (W&M) (Assist: Sami Grasso)
Inside the Numbers
- Despite the 2-0 final score, the shot count finished tied at 9-9. However, the Tribe limited to Providence to just two second half shots. W&M also had a 5-3 advantage in shots-goal.
- The Friars took the only three corner kicks in the contest, but the Tribe defense stiffiled all three chances.
- All three of W&M saves came in the first half. Johnson made a save, before Briguglio made two in relief.
- Six Tribe players recorded shots in the victory on Friday night. Senior
Rachel Moore fired a team-high three shots, while Grasso had two shots.
Notes
The game was delayed an hour and 10 minutes do to lightening in the area prior to opening kickoff… Both redshirt freshman
Lauren Kelly and freshman
Erin Dailey made their first career starts for the Tribe … Dailey scored her first career goal in the 13th minute … The assist was the eighth of senior
Haley Kent's career … Senior
Elysse Branton scored her third goal of her career, while Grasso notched her eighth career assist on the goal … It was the second time that both senior
Samantha Johnson and sophomore
Katelyn Briguglio combined for a shutout. The first came last season when the Tribe blanked James Madison 3-0 on Sept. 23, 2016 … Freshmen
Alex Kuhnle,
Sophia Sanie, and
Colleen Norton made their Tribe debut in their first collegiate appearance.
Quotable
"We got in a groove and had some good passes during the middle part of the first half. Providence put us on our heels in the late part of the first half, but we are able to withstand it. We came out in the second half and really controlled the match and picked up a nice win to start the season."
– John Daly on the victory
"Both of the goals we scored tonight were spectacular.
Haley Kent had a great assist to allow
Erin Dailey to score a goal, and Elysse made a very nice play before firing a shot into the top corner of the net." –
Daly on the goals
"Samantha Johnson and
Katelyn Briguglio both played well for us in goal. Samantha had a nice save early on, before Katelyn made a couple of nice stops when Providence was pressing late in the first half." –
Daly on the shutouts
What's Ahead
William & Mary concludes the JMU Invitational on Sunday, Aug. 20 when they square off with the ACC's Boston College. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. The Tribe opens the home portion of its schedule against Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday, Aug. 24. That game starts at 7 p.m.
