University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
West Virginia
Women's Soccer Ties West Virginia, 1-1, in Overtime
09/17/2005 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 17, 2005
University of Richmond, Va. - The University of Richmond Spiders came out to play at First Market Stadium Friday night against the nationally-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, ending in a 1-1 tie in double-overtime. Proving that a team's heart and hustle can prevail over national rankings, the Spiders took the lead early on when freshman Jessie Wolfe found the back of the net with a header off of senior Hillary Prince's free kick just four minutes into the game.The Spiders continued to play hard and maintained their composure for the rest of the half, holding the Mountaineers to a 1-0 lead.
Although the Spiders continued their solid play in the second half, they just couldn't hold off the Mountaineers attack for the full ninety minutes. West Virginia poured it on strong in the last fifteen minutes and was able to take advantage of a bad clear in the back by a Richmond player. With just nine minutes left in the game, West Virginia Freshman Deana Everrett headed the ball into the back of the net off of a short cross from Natalie Cocchi, saving the Mountaineers from defeat.
This game marked the first time that the Spiders and the Mountaineers faced each other since their one-time match-up in 2000 at the first round of the NCAA tournament where the Spiders seized a 5-1 victory. The Mountaineers, now 3-3-1, headed into this game as the 20th-ranked team in the nation. The Spiders, now 2-3-2, came into this game off of a 1-1 tie in overtime with UNLV and a 1-0 loss to Florida Atlantic at the VCU/Eurosport Invitational this past weekend. Unfortunately, the Spiders were unable to capture another victory over West Virginia; however,Coach Albright is extremely proud of the way his team played.
"It's disappointing to let them come back at the end, but I don't feel bad about it. It really was a good result against a good team. And more importantly, the quality of this game represents a big jump for us. We are really progressing each week in the kind of soccer we are playing," stated Albright.
Albright commended Freshman Sarah Hilt, Sophomore Christine Wrublesky and Freshman Ashleigh Blumer for their strong play in the back. This trio's heart and determination in holding off West Virginia's attack was crucial. Albright also credits the reserve team as playing a big part in this stepping stone for Richmond. "The quality training this week by the reserve team made it possible for us to raise our level of soccer. This was a big difference from last week," stated Albright.
"With the men's last-minute victory over VCU and then our game, it was a great night for soccer..."
The Spiders will head to Charlottesville, Va. this Sunday to take on the 12th-ranked team in the nation, the University of Virginia (according to the latest NSCAA/adidas poll), at 5pm.
