Riefner Ties School Mark In 3-1 Soccer Road Win

Sunday, September 7

Charleston, S.C

1:00 PM

University of Richmond

3-2-0

Charleston Southern

4-2-0

Richmond

Charleston So.

09/07/2014 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Richmond Athletics

CHARLESTON,S.C. -- Junior Ashley Riefner (Mechanicsville, Virginia, / Atlee HS) tied a school record with assists on all three goals and redshirt freshman Meaghan Carrigan (Greenville, South Carolina) had her second two-goal match of the year to propel the Richmond women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory Sunday at Charleston Southern. The win gave UR a sweep in the Nike Tournament over the weekend and pushed the Spiders to a winning record for the first time this season, at 3-2. The loss was the first home loss of the year at CSU field for the Bucs, who are 4-2.

“We played better today. Scoring two in the first half was a clearly stated objective,” said Richmond head coach Peter Albright.

Carrigan scored both of Richmond's first-half goals, as part of the team out shooting CSU 14-4 in the opening half. The first goal came in the 21^st minute, when Riefner and Shannon Colligan (Greenwich, Connecticut) got assists across the face of the goal for the easy score.

Five minutes later, Riefner found Carrigan again for a left-footed score for the final scoring play of the half. Carrigan is the first Spider to score twice in two games in a season since Becca Wann did it, with both matches coming in the month of September during the 2012 season.

CSU Soccer Field // Charleston, S.C.
		1st	2nd		Final
	Richmond (3-2)	2	1	---	3
	Charleston So. (4-2)	0	1	---	1
Scoring Summary
UR - Carrigan (3), from Colligan and Riefner, 21'
UR - Carrigan (4), from Riefner, 26'
CSU - Sells (5), from Faubert (corner), 60'
UR - Prillaman (1), from Riefner, 78'

“Meaghan was the player of the day,” added Albright. “But Ashley Riefner was really good in the match. Today was her best performance of the year.”

The Bucs got on the board with a header for a goal off a corner in the 60^th minute, but freshman Lexi Prillaman (Magnolia, Delaware) scored the first goal of her career after Riefner's shot was thwarted by the keeper in the 78^th minute for the insurance goal.

Following the Friday 2-1 overtime win at The Citadel on Friday, the team watched film Saturday to discuss missed opportunities from previous matches, a lesson that stuck with the players into Sunday's win.

“We thought we were getting in good positions in the attacking third, but we were just making bad decisions at the end,” said Albright. “When they watched it on film and we talked about it, they realized it was a pattern.”

“Attacking in one-on-one situations was a priority for us,” said Riefner. “I did that in two of my assists and I was so happy to set up two awesome goals by Meaghan and Lexi.”

The Spiders played 19 players again today, with several getting significant minutes to build quality depth and put pressure on CSU to defend against fresher legs.

“We had several players get valuable experience which builds their confidence and our confidence in them. It's hard to defend that many players engaged in the game,” noted Albright.

Richmond posted 25 shots to CSU's eight in the game. Richmond junior goalkeeper Emily Kelly (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) needed only one save for the win (3-1).

The Spiders will play at William & Mary Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in a game that will be carried nationally by the NSCAA.com as part of its national schedule.

NOTES: Carrigan leads UR with four goals, while Colligan and Riefner are tied for the team lead with three assists each... The win gives the Spiders their first winning streak of the season.