The women’s soccer program record for consecutive wins, set at eight in 1998, has been broken.
Emerging freshman star Sofia Pavon curled in a free kick late in the second half Sunday afternoon to give women’s soccer a 1-0 road win over Richmond and extend the team’s historic win streak to nine games.
The one-goal decision was also the Colonials’ (11-4-0, 6-0-0 A-10) third straight shutout, and ninth on the season, and helped preserve the team’s undefeated record in Atlantic 10 play.
Head coach Sarah Barnes said the Spiders (4-9-1, 2-3-1 A-10) had a strong defensive plan in place that made it tough for her team to find the back of the net, but GW’s own stellar defensive efforts helped keep them in the game.
“Miranda [Horn] made some big saves and our defense kept us in it. It’s easy to remain confident and patient when you’re not conceding any goals,” Barnes said. “We were very happy to leave Richmond with a win today.”
Junior forward Mackenzie Cowley, who co-led her team on the day with two shots on goal, tested Richmond’s keeper with a strike in just the second minute of play. But the Spiders, who matched GW’s first half shot total with five, held strong defensively as the squads headed to halftime knotted at zero.
It seemed neither side was giving an inch in the second half either. Despite stronger offensive pressure from the Colonials, who recorded four shots on net to Richmond’s one in the frame, the visitors could not find the go-ahead until the match’s waning minutes.
As the Colonials continued to put the Spiders on their heels, a Richmond foul awarded GW a free kick 19 yards out just before the 80 minute mark. That’s when GW’s rookie midfielder lined up to take the pivotal set piece.
“[Pavon] stepped up right away,” Barnes said. “We thought we had the best chance of scoring if we just put it on frame.”
And that’s exactly what Pavon did, perfectly curling the ball into the near post to net the third game-winning goal of her freshman campaign. The score was Pavon’s fifth goal on the season, second-best on the team only to Cowley who has seven on the year.
Redshirt sophomore starting goalkeeper Horn, who recorded three saves on the day, was awarded her fourth shutout on the year. The Colonials also improved their second-best A-10 goals against average to 0.92 with the clean sheet.
The Colonials also tied the program record for the best start in A-10 play with their sixth consecutive conference win.
“The thing we talk about every game is that the bigger the streak gets, the bigger the target is on your back. If you come out a little bit flat or a little bit overconfident you’re going to struggle in those games,” Barnes said, “But if you embrace the challenge and the idea that you are going to get everyone’s best game and that’s going to make you better, then come tournament time we should be able to do something pretty special.”
The Colonials look to stay perfect in league play against Fordham at home on Thursday at 3 p.m.
