NEWARK, Del. – The William and Mary women’s soccer team fell at Delaware, 1-0, on Friday night from Delaware Mini-Stadium.  After a scoreless opening half, in which the Tribe generated multiple dangerous opportunities, the Blue Hens connected on the game-winner in the 51st minute.  For the night, the College held a decisive edge in shots, 18-10, but was unable to get on the scoreboard.  With the loss, the Tribe falls to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in CAA play, while Delaware improves to 8-6 on the year and 5-2 in league action.

“We didn’t have our best tonight,” stated head coach John Daly. “Our first half performance was poor as we didn’t connect our passes nearly enough to our capability or expectations.  We improved in the second half, but poor defending gave them a chance, which they took. We stepped things up and pressured them for the last 15 minutes. Had we fought that hard early we would have done better. Overall, it was a very disappointing performance and we need to pick things up significantly for Sunday.”

Within the first 20 minutes of play, the Tribe’s attack was on the verge of scoring on more than one occasion.  Junior Dani Rutter put W&M’s first attempt on frame in the 18th minute, but the York, Pa., native was turned away by UD’s Jess Figueroa.  Moments later, junior Ali heck cranked another attempt on goal, but Figueroa made another quality stop.  With time winding down in the first stanza, senior Cortlyn Bristol looked to break the stalemate however, the Chantilly, Va., native’s fourth attempt of the half resulted in a save.  In the opening 45 minutes, the Green and Gold outshot the Blue Hens, 12-6, but UD owned a slight edge in shots on goal, 5-4.

In second-half action, Delaware broke the deadlock after Chelsea Duff’s shot from 22 yards away via the middle of the pitch, slipped into the upper right netting of goal.  Thereafter, W&M staged multiple attacks on the Blue Hens frame with its best look coming courtesy of sophomore Emory Camper.  Once again Figueroa, who finished the contest with eight saves, turned away the Virginia Beach, Va., native’s equalizing attempt in the 78th minute.

For the match, W&M outshot Delaware, 18-10, while the Blue Hens held the advantage in shots on goal, 9-5.  Both squads finished the night generating two corner kick opportunities, while UD was whistled for 10 fouls compared to the College’s five.  Tribe freshman keeper Caroline Casey played all 90 minutes between the posts and finished the night collecting five saves.

The Tribe returns to action on Sunday, as it travels to Drexel for a match slated to get underway at 1 p.m.  Fans can follow the Drexel action online at TribeAthletics.com with live stats.  Additionally, fans can watch the action live free of charge courtesy of DrexelDragons.com.

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