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 Caitlin Proffitt, Dayton |
Nov. 8, 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Richmond Spiders and the Dayton Flyers advanced to the semifinals of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship with quarterfinals victories on Thursday evening at Transamerica Field on the campus of UNC Charlotte.
Sixth-seed Richmond defeated third-seed Duquesne, 2-0, and will play top-seeded Charlotte at 5:30pm on Friday. Fifth-seed Dayton defeated fourth-seed Saint Louis in dramatic fashion, 2-1 (OT), to advance to the second A-10 semifinal game against second-seed Fordham at 8:00pm on Friday.
Richmond (8-11-2) scored a goal in each half as they defeated Duquesne (11-7-0), 2-0 to advance to the semifinals.
"The game was a tale of two halves," Richmond coach Peter Albright said. "I thought we were very good in the first half. We were able to control the tempo. Duquesne came out in the second half and kept us out of our game. When Duquesne went to three in the back, we put a couple of quick kids in and put the dagger goal in there."
Richmond took an early lead that they never relinquished when Christine Wrublesky scored on a shot that went into the goal just inside the right post from five-yards out off an assist from Jessie Wolfe in the 18th minute.
Richmond then put the game out of reach when Jessie Knight scored her second goal of the season when she beat Duquesne keeper Gabby Morrin with a shot from about ten yards out off assists from Jen Ruhe and Nora Mann in the 82nd minute.
Richmond finished the game with a 14-8 advantage in shots. Wolfe paced Richmond with four shots. While Sarah Hilt and Wrublesky added two shots to Spiders attack. Audra Matthews led Duquesne with three shots. While, Kristin Vinicky added two shots to the Dukes attack.
"The ladies overcame adversity all season after the coach leaving early in the season," Duquesne coach Tim Zundel said. "I thought it was a good game. We just didn't have enough to beat a good team at the end. I just told them we played the ball too much in the first half. I told them we have 45 minutes left to figure this out and they worked hard and did what I asked them, but it wasn't enough."
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Richmond faces top-seed Charlotte on Friday at Charlotte's Transamerica Field.
"We played our best match of the year against Charlotte and we lost," Albright said. "We know it's a big hill to climb. I hope we can be in the game in the second half."
Dayton (13-4-3) advanced to the semifinals with a dramatic, 2-1, overtime win over Saint Louis (10-6-2) when Caitlin Proffitt scored her third goal of the season on a shot from 20-yards in the 92nd minute.
"It's awesome," Dayton coach Mike Tucker said. "Caitlin Proffitt missed seven or eight games because of injuries this season. It was fitting that she got the goal particularly having one taken off the board. We always talk about playing from ahead. Saint Louis is a great team and we knew it would be a battle. I don't know about the players, but I'm too old for this. We had some kids make great tackles and sometimes defending is nothing more than just making good effort and hard work. I'm really proud of the effort out there tonight."
Dayton took the early 1-0 lead when Courtney Sirmans bended a corner kick into the upper left corner of the goal in the 16th minute. Sirmans goal was her first of the season.
Saint Louis tied the score when Cassi Winchell scored her sixth goal of the season on a shot from 20-yards out off a Julie Bradenberg assist in the 29th minute.
Dayton thought they had won the game in regulation when Proffitt put the ball in the back of the net with 36 seconds left on the clock. But Proffitt was called for offsides which negated the game-winning goal.
Saint Louis finished the game with a 17-13 advantage in shots. Winchell and Susan Frederickson paced Saint Louis with four shots. Bradenberg, Alyssa Mautz and Kelly Waeckerle added two shots to the Saint Louis attack. A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Mandi Back paced Dayton with three shots. While Sirmans, Kristen Persichini and Emily Miller recorded two shots apiece for Dayton.
"I think we played really well," Saint Louis coach Tim Champion said. "The difference was their goalkeeping. We had shots that I thought were in the net, but she played outstanding tonight. That's soccer. It was a great back and forth game. You figure in this kind of game, the team that was able to get one in the back of the net would pull it out."
A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Dayton goalkeeper Niki Reed finished with ten saves in the game.
Dayton advances to face second-seed Fordham in the second A-10 Semifinal game, Friday, Nov. 9 at 8pm.
