CHARLESTON, S.C. – William & Mary women's soccer need overtime but found the golden goal for a Colonial Athletic Association opening 1-0 win at Charleston on Sunday afternoon.
 
Senior defender Page Frantz won the ball in the midfield, finding sophomore Elaina Longjohn, who redirected a pass toward the right endline hitting senior Addie Puskar in space. The Tribe senior sent a cross, turned shot toward goal. It deflected off a Charleston defender and into the goal to give the visitors a 1-0 win. It marked Puskar's second career goal and first career game-winner.
 
Behind sophomore goalkeeper Grace Lemley and the backline of sophomores Nicole Sellers and Ginny Delacruz and freshmen Riley Friesen and Emma D'Alesandro, the Tribe kept the Cougars offense at bay to earn the shutout. In total, Lemley finished with three saves.
 
Charleston outshot the Tribe, 15-12, on the afternoon, but the Green and Gold created the more dangerous chances, thanks to a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. W&M generated seven corner kicks compared to just one for the Cougars.
 
The best opportunity on either side in the opening 45 minutes came from the Tribe off a corner kick. D'Alesandro collected the cross inside the top left of the 18-yard box and rifled a shot on frame that CofC goalkeeper Meredith Holton was able to get a hand to and push off the crossbar.
 
W&M nearly found the game-winner twice in the closing minutes as well, but each time Holton came up with a big save. In the 88th minute, Frantz collected a clearance in midfielder and sent a knuckling shot toward the right post from 25 yards out that Holton was able to push it wide.
 
With just a minute remaining, sophomore Bridget Fitzpatrick bent a shot toward the left post from 18 yards out. Holton made a lunging save to push the shot wide and keep the game scoreless.
 
W&M Starters - #1 Lemley, #2 Potter, #7 Puskar, #9 Sellers, #10 Shackford, #14 O'Toole, #18 Kier, #20 Friesen, #21 D'Alesandro, #22 Delacruz, #26 Longjohn
 
CofC Starters - #1 Holton, #5 Nazari, #7 Freitas, #10 Powell, #18 Slimmer, #20 Alexander, #21 Dawes, #24 Deutsch, #30 Reichardt, #32 Yocum, #36 Snead
 
Scoring Summary
95' | W&M – Addie Puskar (unassisted)
 
Quotable
"It's a tall order heading to Charleston for the conference opener. It's a very long bus trip and sometimes tough to get the legs going. We played very well for stretches but failed to capitalize on a few early chances and lots of corners. In the end, the team showed a lot of grit and resilience getting a great golden goal in overtime. Goalkeeper Grace Lemley and the back like had a well-earned clean sheet and senior Addie Puskar added the pressure that led to the goal.   It was a big confidence-building win." – W&M head coach Julie Shackford
 
Up Next
The Tribe continues its CAA-opening road swing at Towson on Sunday, Oct. 3. The match carries a 1 p.m. start and will be streamed on FloFC.