A blazing first-year debut leads Spiders to major victory

First-year forward Emma Newman’s program tying four goals led the University of Richmond women’s soccer team to demolish Virginia Military Institute 5-0 Thursday, Aug. 14 at President’s Field. 

Marking a historic day for the Spiders, the staggering win marked the most goals in a season opener in program history and the first 5-0 win since 2019. 

At the forefront of the front line, Newman played a role in every single goal, racking up four goals and an assist. She wasted no time making her collegiate debut count, scoring the first goal of her career– and the game– in just two minutes.

“I was pretty surprised when I scored that early on, and I kept getting opportunities and just took them,” Newman said in a postgame press conference. 

In the eighth minute, Newman wasted no time, doubling the lead with an assist by graduate midfielder Brigitte Bussiere. 

On the other side of the field, another debut came to life. Sophomore goalkeeper Veronica Rrapi halted two goal attempts, crushing VMI’s attempts to narrow Richmond’s lead. 

Newman was relentless, a strike from the top of the box giving her a hat trick, the first one for Richmond since 2017, and bringing the Spiders to 3-0. 

“It’s rare that a freshman scores on her debut, and scores that many goals, but she is capable of that,” Head Coach Adam Denton said. “Now, she’s a known entity so the next challenge for her is, as the season continues, she has to keep up those levels and see how she competes in the next one.”

A scoring drought then took over the field for the rest of the first half. 

VMI wasn’t able to generate much of anything, merely tallying two shots and a foul. However, Richmond had a flurry of activity on their end, racking up six shots, five fouls and three corner kicks. 

Both teams spent the first fifteen minutes of the second half grasping at straw, no one managing to gain a point. The lull finally broke as sophomore forward Kingsley Hugh found the back of the net. 

Richmond continued to dominate the field, VMI trailing behind. The Spiders sealed the score as Newman tied off the scoring with another goal. 

The Spiders held 54% possession and completely shut VMI out 8-0 in corner kicks. Further establishing the vastness of the win, Richmond outshot VMI 19-10 

On Sunday, Aug. 17, Richmond was defeated by Coastal Carolina University 1-0. But with the season just beginning, the Spiders look ahead to what awaits. 

Contact sports editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu