Women's soccer loses in double overtime to Dayton

There was a great turnout at Robins Stadium last night when the University of Richmond women’s soccer team played the Dayton Flyers in one of the most anticipated games of the season.

The two top-scoring teams in the A-10 lived up to the hype in an exciting game that went into double overtime, but ultimately the Flyers trumped the Spiders 4-3 with a game-winning penalty shot.

The game started off fast, with Richmond freshman Meaghan Carrigan scoring on a breakaway in the second minute for Richmond’s earliest goal of the season. The Spiders held the lead until the 29th minute, when the Flyers headed the ball past goalie Katie Brennan for the tying goal.

The Spiders came right back when junior Ashley Riefner lobbed a throw-in from the sideline that found Meaghan Carrigan’s foot for her second goal of the first half. The volley shot brought the score to 2-1 at the end of the first half.

Dayton came out shooting in the second half, scoring twice in the first six minutes of play. The two teams battled it out the rest of the second half, until Richmond freshman Lexi Prillaman got ahead of her defender to bend in a left-footed shot from 18 yards in the last three minutes of regulation.

The first overtime was an extension of the second half, with both teams fighting to defend their goals and both only taking one shot in the 10-minute period. In the second overtime, Dayton scored on a penalty shot with about five minutes left, making the final score 4-3, Dayton.

Richmond played well. Katie Brennan, goalie, made six saves and Ashley Riefner, midfielder, consistently passed Dayton players with impressive footwork.

The loss dropped Richmond’s record to 8-7-2 and 2-2-2 in the conference. Next weekend the team will play its last two games of the season, starting with Massachusetts at 7 p.m. Friday night. That game will also be senior night, where the seniors will be celebrated in the pregame ceremony.

Richmond hosts Rhode Island on Sunday in the regular-season finale at Robins Stadium. The Spiders need two wins next weekend to qualify for the A-10 tournament the following week.

Contact reporter Carney Judge at carney.judge@richmond.edu