WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William and Mary women’s soccer team defeated Richmond, 3-0, Wednesday night at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.  In second-half action, W&M netted three-goals in the span of 10 minutes as it distanced itself from the visiting Spiders.  Senior Erin Liberatore broke the scoreless affair with a goal in the 80th minute, while junior Dani Rutter and senior Mallory Schaffer put through the Tribe’s last two scores.  The Green and Gold improves to 2-2 on the season, while Richmond falls to 0-4.  

In the first 15 minutes of action, Richmond threatened on multiple occasions.  In the fifth minute, UR’s sophomore Ashley Williams generated a quality shot on goal but was turned away by freshman keeper Caroline Casey.  For the remainder of the first-half, the College controlled the momentum, registering 11 shots, two shots on goal and five corner kicks.

Early in the second frame, the Tribe made its presence known as it generated multiple scoring opportunities.  For the half, the Green and Gold fired 14 shots with eight coming on frame.   W&M’s opportunities were abundant in the last 45 minutes, but Richmond withstood every attack, as the match was scoreless with 20 minutes left to play.  In the 80th minute, Liberatore took possession on the top left of the 18, dribbling through multiple defenders, the Midlothian, Va., native created a clean look just right of center and fired a shot into the bottom right netting of frame for W&M’s first score. 

Moments later, in front of the mouth of goal, junior Dani Rutter put the contest out of reach as she punched in a pass from freshman Barbara Platenberg for her first goal of the season.  The assist marked the first career point for Platenberg.  Senior Mallory Schaffer netted the College’s third and final score of the night.  In the waning moments of the contest, Schaffer headed in a corner from Rutter for the Tribe’s third goal of the evening.  It was Schaffer’s team-leading third goal of the season. 

For the match, the Green and Gold outshot the Spiders, 25-10. The College held the edge in shots on goal, 10-2, and corner kicks, 9-1.  Casey recorded two saves and played all 90 minutes between the posts for the Tribe, posting her first career shutout.

Tribe soccer returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 2, as it travels to Auburn for a 1 p.m. (ET) showdown with the Tigers.  Fans can follow the action online at TribeAthletics.com with live stats.  Live video of the contest will be provided courtesy of Auburn athletics at a fee of $9.95.

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