Richmond Soccer Blanks American Friday Night

Friday, September 4

Robins Stadium (Richmond, Va.)

7:30 PM

University of Richmond

2-2

American

1-4

American

Richmond

09/05/2015 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Richmond Athletics

Richmond got the first goals of the season from senior Ashley Riefner (Mechanicsville, Virginia / Atlee HS) and sophomore Lindsey Williams (Williamsburg, Virginia / Warhill HS), while freshman goalie Jessica Stanfill (Fitzgerald, Georgia) posted a shutout in her first collegiate game as the Richmond women's soccer program blanked visiting American University 2-0 Friday night at Robins Stadium.

The win levels the Richmond record to 2-2, while the Eagles dropped to 1-4 on the season.

The Spiders scored first nearly at the end of the opening half in the 40^th minute off a corner kick when freshman Ella Stout (Minneapolis, Minnesota) served a ball into Riefner, who slipped through the defense and blasted an indefensible ball just under the near post crossbar from 16 yards out. It was Stout's first collegiate point.

The Spiders passed at an unofficial 75 percent clip in the first half, controlling the ball 63 percent of the time on the SoccerMeter stat tracker.

“I thought we were very good in the first half, kept possession and applied a lot of pressure on the American goal,” said UR head coach Peter Albright after the game.

The Eagles were outshot 13-3 in the opening period, with Stanfill making two saves in the first 45 minutes. Richmond had five of their nine corner kicks in the opening period.

The second half played a little tighter in possession, with UR controlling the ball 60 percent of the time. In the 62^nd minute Riefner laid off a pass to Williams, who had the goal of the season so far for the Spiders, a blast across the face of the goal into the upper 90 far post that curled in over a leaping AU keeper Charlene Belanger for the final scoring play of the contest.

“It was a great goal by (Riefner) on the set piece and what a brilliant strike by Lindsey Williams in the second half,” noted Albright. "We have been looking for Lindsey to step up and assert herself offensive and it was nice to see her come through. Our freshman played great tonight, including a clean sheet for Jess in her first college game.”

Stanfill made one more save in the second half on four more shots faced to finish with three and the result, making her 1-0 to start her career. Belanger fell to 0-4 this season after seeing 23 total Richmond shots.

With her second-half assist, Riefner leads the team with four assists. Her one-assist-per-game average was tied for 11^th in the NCAA as of Monday's statistical posting.

The shutout was the second of the year in four games for Richmond, and the sixth in the last 12 contests, dating back to last season.

The Spiders will play next one week from tonight, at UNC Wilmington at 7:30 pm as part of the Hilton/Garden Inn Invitational next weekend.

NOTES: Richmond has outscored opponents 7-3 this season, with six different Spiders logging goals, and six different Spiders registering the nine season assists… Riefner is almost halfway to her 2014 assists total of nine.