Women’s soccer extended its win streak to three games rolling past Richmond 4–1 Sunday at home.

The Colonials (8–5–1, 4–2–0 A-10) limited the Spiders (1–12–1, 1–4–1 A-10) to six shots throughout the game – matching GW’s season low. GW racked up 21 shots with 12 on goal to earn the team’s fourth Atlantic 10 win.

The team entered the day’s match coming off a 1–0 win against Duquesne on the road Thursday.

“Today overall our energy was really well,” head coach Michelle Demko said. “I thought our possession was really high and creation in the final third was very good.”

Senior forward Sofia Pavon found the back of the net less than two minutes into the first frame after volleying a cross from freshman defender Hannah Zaluski to put GW up 1–0 and notch the team’s fastest goal this season.

Pavon’s goal was her fourth in three games and makes her GW’s sole leading goal scorer with five on the season. She led the team Sunday with one goal on three shots and one assist against Richmond.

“Players want to play with other good players and Sof is really a game changer,” Demko said. “She’s on everybody’s radar and she can turn the switch and blaze a trail for us.”

After Pavon’s quick goal, the Colonials continued to test Richmond’s defense, rocketing off four shots in the opening five minutes with two on frame – and continuing to pressure the Spiders throughout the first half.

“We’re getting a lot of shots but we just want to keep putting our foot on people’s throats and just keep going,” Pavon said.

[gwh_image id=”1067760″ credit=”Olivia Anderson | Photo Editor” align=”right” size=”embedded-img”]Freshman midfielder Alexandra Filipkowski tracks a ball as it re-enters play from the sideline.[/gwh_image]

Freshman midfielder Alexandra Filipkowski notched her first career collegiate goal in the 39th minute of the first frame, running onto a cross from senior forward Charley Prevost and getting a one-touch shot off into net to give GW a 2–0 lead heading into the break.

“We got a couple goals off of our services which are some of the things we’ve trained this week,” Demko said. “It’s really good to see them take those aspects from training and apply them to the game.”

At the half, the Colonials were outshooting the Spiders 13–3 with five shots on frame. GW’s defense was without redshirt junior Megan McCormick who sat out of the game with an injury. Freshman defender Madi Coyne took over the center defender role for the game.

“Madi stepped up and did super well and stopped some really key shots,” senior defender Dani Frese said. “Our outside backs are killing it so I think we’re all just connecting and communicating a lot more.”

GW has outscored opponents 7–2 in the team’s three-game win streak.

Pavon said the team’s solid backline performance gives the offense “confidence” to continue pushing for goals.

“We can take risks and we know they’ll be there to clean anything up for us – that’s really nice to have,” Pavon said.

The Colonials opened the second half with the same high intensity as the first, which paid off with players netting two more goals.

Sophomore midfielder Natalie Silberman added to GW’s lead when she broke through Richmond’s defensive line in front of an open net to collect a lay off pass from Pavon before burying a shot into the bottom left corner of the net to make the score 3–0 in the 54th minute of the game.

Ten minutes later, the Colonials scored a final time when senior midfielder Mia Barreda deflected the ball into the back of the net to tally her third goal of the season.

“We’ve always been committed but it’s really showing now like how we’re going to work for each other and stuff like that, which makes everyone’s job so much easier so it’s really nice to see,” Pavon said.

The Spiders’ only goal of the game came from a penalty shot by Richmond senior midfielder Keaira Clark with eight minutes left in the match.

The Colonials’ next game pits them against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, a team they are tied with in A-10 standings.

“This momentum feels really good going into Saint Joe’s next week because that’s going to be a really good game,” Frese said. “This momentum is really going to help us.”

The Colonials return to action Thursday on the road to face off against Saint Joseph’s. Kick off is slated for 7 p.m.