With loss, women's soccer team's playoff prospects are uncertain

Another one-goal loss has put the University of Richmond women's soccer team's postseason hopes in jeopardy.

The Spiders fell to the University of St. Louis Billikens 1-0 Sunday afternoon at First Market Stadium, the team's fourth straight loss in Atlantic-10 conference games.

Richmond controlled the ball in the Billikens' end during most of the first half, but neither team scored.

St. Louis scored the game's only goal with 23 minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the second half. Junior forward Julia Bradenberg received a pass from halfback Megan Yossi in front of the Richmond net and shot the ball past diving Richmond goalkeeper Andrea Young.

"I thought they scored on really their only chance of the second half," Richmond coach Peter Albright said.

The Spiders pushed players forward and tried to increase their attack near the end of the game, but the St. Louis defense remained strong, especially in the goal area.

Richmond outshot the Billikens 11-10.

"I thought we competed hard," Albright said. "I think we had seven freshman on the field at the end of the game [because of injuries]."

Richmond's record went to 9-6-1 and 3-5 in conference play after the loss. With only three conference games remaining, making the postseason will be difficult, Albright said.

"We committed a lot to getting a win this weekend and we didn't get it," he said, adding that the team would need to win the rest of its games and other A-10 teams would have to lose in order for the Spiders to make the tournament.

The top six teams in the A-10 qualify for the postseason tournament. With the loss, Richmond dropped into 8th place in the league as of Sunday afternoon.

The Spiders will look to snap their four-game losing streak on Friday at home against George Washington University -- the team's final home game of the season.

Though disappointed in his team's recent struggles, Albright remained optimistic about where the team is headed.

"The future looks great, but we expected to be in a better position," he said.

Contact staff writer Reilly Moore at reilly.moore@richmond.edu