HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – William & Mary women's soccer turned in a stout defensive performance in playing No. 6-ranked Hofstra to a scoreless draw at Hofstra Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Junior goalkeeper
Zoe Doughty turned in another standout outing finishing with a career-high 10 saves to record her second-straight clean sheet. It marked the third game of 10 or more saves in the Colonial Athletic Association this season. Doughty tallied five saves in each half.
Along with Doughty, the Tribe defense stood strong against the CAA's top-scoring offense. In fact, the Pride (12-2-1, 4-1-1 CAA) entered the game averaging 2.57 goals per game, which ranked 23rd in the country.
The Green and Gold's backline of senior
Page Frantz, sophomores
Ginny Delacruz and
Nicole Sellers and freshmen
Riley Friesen and
Emma D'Alesandro were impressive in limiting the Pride. The quartet was instrumental in holding the nation's leading scorer Miri Taylor without a goal. She entered the contest with 14 goals, or one per game.
Doughty came up with perhaps her biggest save just five minutes into the second half. The junior goalkeeper turned away a Georgia Brown shot from the penalty spot with a kick save.
It looked as though Hofstra had taken a 1-0 lead in the 83rd minute. Amanda Ebbesson slotted home a shot from eight yards out on the left side of the box after a nice combination and cross but she was ruled to be offside, negating the goal.
W&M (3-7-2, 1-2-2 CAA) had a couple of great chances over the final three minutes of regulation. In the 88th minute, senior
Caroline Monahan sent a long ball from the left flank to a rushing
Hannah Potter, but Hofstra goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich came off her line to nab Potter's volley at the top of the box.
With just 11 seconds remaining, junior
Kayleigh Shackford showed some great footwork and beat three Hofstra defenders to the top of the penalty area. Kuzmich made the diving save to her right on Shackford's low shot.
The draw with the No. 6 team in the country was the Tribe's first result against a nationally-ranked foe since a win over No. 25 Georgetown in 2015. It was the W&M's best nationally-ranked result since a 1-0 win over No. 2 North Carolina in 2007.
Quotable
"Our defense did a good job of neutralized Hofstra for much of the game.
Zoe Doughty had an inspiring performance in goal, and we played toe-to-toe with a really strong Hofstra team. Our players prepared well and did a good job of taking advantage to create a few really dangerous opportunities. I am proud of this team's effort." – William & Mary head coach
Julie Shackford
Hofstra Starters - #1 Kuzmich (GK), #2 Fries, #5 Shepherd, #6 Littleboy, #8 Taylor, #10 Porter, #12 Hayden, #17 Halseth, #19 Agostinello, #22 Brown, #34 Suttner
W&M Starters – #19 Doughty (GK), #10 Shackford, #12 Kurtas, #14 O'Toole, #18 Kier, #20 Friesen, #21 D'Alesandro, #22 Delacruz, #23 Frantz, #26 Longjohn, #27 Suchora
Scoring Summary
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Inside the Numbers
- Hofstra held a 21-4 advantage in shots, but all four of the Tribe's shots were on goal. Ten of the Pride's chances were on frame.
- HU generated seven corner kicks compared to one for the Green and Gold.
- Neither team attempted a shot in overtime.
Up Next
The Tribe returns to Williamsburg for a pair of matches next week. W&M hosts Elon on Thursday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., before welcoming JMU to Martin Family Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 24, for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on FloFC.
