Nov. 3, 2013

Box Score

Atlantic 10 Championship Bracket | Atlantic 10 Championship Central

WASHINGTON – The George Washington women’s soccer team shut out Richmond, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon to earn a bid to the Atlantic 10 Championship in its regular-season finale and Senior Day.

Sophomore Brooke Bean and junior Elizabeth Casey scored to lift GW (7-5-5, 3-3-2 A-10) to its eighth shutout of the season, the most clean sheets for the Colonials since 1994. It marks the first time GW will compete in the A-10 Championship since the 2002 season.

Seventh-seeded GW will face second-seeded La Salle in the quarterfinal round of the A-10 tournament, which will be held Thursday, Nov. 7 – Sunday, Nov. 10 in Richmond, Va., at VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium.  Thursday's rematch between the Colonials and the Explorers will kick off at 11 a.m.

“I am extremely proud of this team and I think they absolutely deserved to earn a bid to the conference championship,” second-year Head CoachSarah Barnes said. “These players have worked so hard all season long and it has definitely paid off. We’re looking forward to this week in Richmond.”

Bean put GW on the scoreboard in the 19^th minute when after a Richmond foul, her free kick from just outside of the box squeaked past Spiders’ goalkeeper Devin O’Brien for a 1-0 lead. Casey netted the insurance goal – the first tally of her career – at 79:29 when her service from 30 yards out on the right side dipped under the crossbar into the top left corner of the net.

Richmond’s best attempt came in the 68^th minute when Violet Miller collected a corner kick from Erin Layne and fired a shot to the center of the net, but senior goalkeeperNicole Ulrick punched the ball over the crossbar to preserve the lead.

GW maintained a high-pressure attack throughout the contest, holding a 14-10 advantage in shots over Richmond (6-9-3, 3-4-1 A-10) and forcing O’Brien to make eight saves on the day.

Ulrick set aside two shots for GW to record her eighth shutout of the year.  Ulrick and classmates Melanie Keer, Claire Haft, Alex Neal and Jane Wallis were recognized during a pre-match Senior Day ceremony, and the quintet will now lead the Colonials into their first A-10 Championship appearance in 11 years.