A pair of set-piece goals from La Salle University dispatched the University of Richmond women’s soccer team Oct. 27 in its last action of the 2024 regular season.
The contest held no postseason implications for either side, with the Spiders six points back from punching their playoff ticket and the Explorers four. Even still, there was no way to tell from the intensity of play, as the Spiders began a high press early on to stoke defensive miscues from the Explorers.
UR’s aggressive offense quickly generated a handful of chances, as senior forward Emma Coleman received the ball inside the 18-yard box twice within the first eight minutes of play, but could not quite break through in either instance.
In between these chances, La Salle showed flashes of quality themselves, deflecting a corner kick on net that was brilliantly snatched by graduate goalie McKenna Dalfonso.
Possession remained tightly contested through the half, even as scoring chances came in shorter supply. Stout defense from both sides repelled all but the longest of shots, although the Explorers still managed a near miss that rang off the crossbar.
The Spiders began to break through as halftime drew nearer. Graduate forward Abby Dillon had a shot sail just wide of the right post moments after a cross from junior forward Marisa Snee nearly found a UR jersey in the box.
With momentum from yet another crossbar-strike in the waning seconds of the first half, it did not take long for an energized La Salle squad to tally.
With the Spiders deep to defend a set piece, the Explorers laid a short ball to the top of the 18-yard box that was played to a two-on-one at the far post. Dalfonso batted the initial short-range effort, but La Salle cashed in the rebound to put the Spiders down 1-0 in the 52nd minute.
UR barely had enough time to launch a response before the Explorers converted once more. Nine minutes after their first, La Salle doubled their advantage with yet another set piece opportunity, yet again played short to the top of the box to set up a cross.
“If you give away needless free kicks against a team that’s physical, that can put a ball in a dangerous area, you’re asking for trouble,” UR Head Coach Adam Denton said after the game. “We gave too many away, and then we couldn’t deal with the goals and being 2-0 down.”
The final half-hour of play elapsed with plenty of offensive production for UR, including close-range opportunities for both first-year forward Kingsley Hughes and graduate defender Grace Ferrara who each narrowly missed the net. First-year forward Avery Nam blasted a shot from distance that rebounded off the Explorers’ goalie, but the Spiders remained out of the scoring column as time ran out.
The loss dropped the Spiders to a 4-10-3 overall record and a 2-7-1 record within the Atlantic 10, an improvement over their 1-8-1 conference mark last season and their best finish overall since going 7-10-1 in the 2021 season. La Salle finished 10th in the A-10 standings with the win – four positions above the Spiders – with a 3-4-3 record, just missing the postseason cutoff.
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“For the majority of the games we played this season… they’ve been competitive, [so] we are making some progress there,” Denton said. “We’re losing a lot of experience… the base of the team is going to be younger [next year], so that’s a challenge in itself… but we have to start new again next year.”
Contact sports writer Scott Valentine at scott.valentine@richmond.edu.
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