The opening day of the Atlantic-10 women’s tournament produced a pair of surprises as the tournament’s lowest seeds Richmond and Dayton both won.
No. 6 Richmond scored early and late to defeat No. 3 Duquesne, 2-0, and No. 5 Dayton triumphed, 2-1, over No. 4 Saint Louis in overtime after its apparent winner in the last minute of regulation was called off for offside.
Richmond took an early lead when Christine Wrublesky put UR ahead in the 18th minute, and the Spiders held on until Jessie Knight put the game out of reach in the 82nd minute.
“The game was a tale of two halves,” Richmond coach Peter Albright said. “I thought we were very good in the first half. We were able to control the tempo. Duquesne came out in the second half and kept us out of our game. When Duquesne went to three in the back, we put a couple of quick kids in and put the dagger goal in there.”
Caitlin Proffitt‘s goal from 20 yards in the 92nd minute sent Dayton into the semifinals. The Flyers thought they had won the game with 36 seconds remaining, but Proffitt’s was called off for offside.
“It’s awesome,” Dayton coach Mike Tucker said. “Caitlin Proffitt missed seven or eight games because of injuries this season. It was fitting that she got the goal particularly having one taken off the board.”
Dayton and SLU traded goals in the first half. The Flyers took the early 1-0 lead when Courtney Sirmans bended a corner kick into the upper left corner of the goal in the 16th minute. Cassi Winchell evened the score with her sixth goal of the season in the 29th minute.
A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Niki Reed was the difference in goal for Dayton, finishing with 10 saves.
ATLANTIC-10
Quarterfinals
Nov. 8 in Charlotte, N.C.
Duquesne 0 Richmond 2 (Wrublesky 18, Knight 80).
Saint Louis 1 (Winchell 29) Dayton 2 (Sirmans 16, Profitt 92) (OT).