LYNCHBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's soccer team rallied for the final two goals of the match, but could not overcome a 4-0 deficit in a 4-2 setback at Liberty on Thursday night in Lynchburg. Junior Alex Kuhnle and freshman Kayleigh Shackford scored for the Tribe (1-2).
Liberty (1-2) broke the scoreless tie with just minute to play in the first half. In a back-and-forth, first 45 the Flames took advantage of the final attack. Nicole Crutchfield collected the ball on the left side of the 18, before slotting a pass to the far post where Kailey Neef redirected into the back of the net.
The Flames wasted little time to take a three-goal lead as they scored twice in 69 seconds to open the second stanza. Five minutes into the second half, with the ball bouncing around in front of the goal, a Tribe player, inadvertently, directed into the net for an own goal. Just 1:09 later, Kasey Jamison found Gabrielle Farrell, who made it 3-0. LU scored its fourth in the 71st minute as Neef found Elisa Warren. Warren made one more pass to Gabrielle Farrell, who put her shot in the back of the net.
W&M tried to overcome the deficit and scored a pair of goals late. In the 75th minute, sophomore Renee Kohler sent Kuhnle free. The junior placed her shot in the lower right corner of the net for the Tribe's first goal. In the 89th minute, Kohler lined up a free-kick that was just a step outside of the 18 that found the foot of Shackford to cut the lead in half. The Tribe nearly scored a moment later, but a shot from redshirt senior Sarah Segan was just wide left.
W&M Starters - #0 Fling, #5 DeMasters, #6 Dailey, #8 Crocco, #12 Kelly, #13 Kohler, #16 Hyland, #20 Miles #22 Keith, #23 Frantz, #24 Kuhnle
Liberty Starters – #1 Jayroe, #5 Lam, #6 Dunnick, #7 Kardos, #9 Ellis, #10 Farrell, #11 Jamieson, #12 Warren, #17 Earnest, #22 Green #25 Warren
Goals
44' | KaileyNeef (Liberty) (Assist: Nicole Crutchfield)
51' | Own Goal (Liberty)
52' | Gabrielle Farrell (Liberty) (Assist: Kasey Jamison)
71' | Zoe Gaffeny (Liberty) (Assist: Elisa Warren, Neef)
75' | Alex Kuhnle (W&M) (Assist: Renee Kohler)
89' | Kayleigh Shackford (W&M) (Assist: Kohler)
Inside the Numbers
- Both teams fired 15 shots apiece, in the contest.
- However, W&M held a 9-7 advantage in shots-on-goal.
- Liberty took four corners compared to just two for W&M.
- Senior Charlotte Hyland, junior Courtney Miles, and sophomore Renee Kohler each fired three shots for the Tribe, a team-high.
Notes
Sophomore Maisy Fling made her first career start in goal … Junior Alex Kuhnle scored her second goal of the season for the Tribe and the fourth goal of her career … Freshman Kayleigh Shackford notched her first career goal in the 89th minute … Sophomore Renee Kohler assisted on both goals tonight, which gives her two for the season and three for her career.
Quotable
"We are very disappointed with our performance tonight. It was one of those games where we never established a rhythm and struggled to execute in all areas. We pulled ourselves out and got on the scoreboard, but we ran out of time. Give credit to Liberty. They came out much stronger and more determined and made it difficult the whole way through. They were able to put pressure on us and scored in key moments we weren't able to rebound from." – Head coach Julie Shackford
What's Ahead
W&M closes the weekend and its three-game road trip as it heads to the Midwest to take on Northwestern on Sunday, Sept. 1. Kickoff between the Tribe and the Wildcats is set for 2 p.m. EST, 1 p.m. CST.
