University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host Defending Soccer Champ Dayton Sat.
10/24/2014 | Women's Soccer
With three matches remaining in the regular season, all at home, Richmond Spiders soccer will host defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Dayton Saturday night at Robins Stadium. Admission is free and kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Richmond started the season unbeaten in the Atlantic 10 at 2-0-2, but lost its last contest, 1-0 at George Washington on Sunday. The Spiders are guaranteed a spot in the A-10 Tournament with wins in two of the last three contests, but combinations of fewer wins and ties create scenarios to get the Spiders into the tournament, hosted by Dayton in two weeks. Eight of the 14 soccer teams advance to the championships.
Richmond and Dayton are the top two scoring teams in the conference, with 30 goals each entering the weekend. Both teams have a goal-scorer in the top four in the league, while the two teams have four of the top six point-scorers in the conference entering the contest. Offense is a priority for these clubs, as they also allow the most goals in the league. Dayton has allowed 32, while the Spiders have given up 28. Dayton owns a 3-10-1 all-time mark in the series. Richmond's last win in the series came in the only time the two teams met at Robins Stadium, a 1-0 UR win on October 16, 2011. Dayton has won the last three matches (all in Ohio) with a combined score of 8-1.
Richmond (8-6-2, 2-1-2 A-10) sits sixth in the league standings right now. Redshirt freshman Meaghan Carrigan (Greenville, South Carolina) leads the team with 11 goals, third-most in the conference. Junior teammate Shannon Colligan (Greenwich, Connecticut) leads the conference with 11 assists, tied for fifth-most in the country this week. Freshman keeper Katie Brennan (Fairfield, Connecticut) now has anough minutes to qualify for league ranking and sits third in the conference both with an 0.78 goals-against average and an .833 save percentage. She is 3-1-2 in her first six matches this season.
Dayton (7-8-1, 3-2 A-10) leads the league in shots taken (307) and shots per game (19.2) and is fourth in the league standings. The Flyers have a pair of student-athletes, Ashley Campbell and Nicole Waters who are both tied for second in the conference with 70 shots taken. Campbell leads the team with nine goals, fourth-most in the league, and Waters is tied for seventh. The Flyers do not have a keeper ranked in the top 10 in the league in either saves or goals against.
Richmond will finish out the regular season at Robins Stadium next weekend with Massachusetts on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Rhode Island Sunday at 1 p.m. Massachusetts is a win and a tie behind the Spiders and URI is just a tie (one point) back in the standings.
