Dixon, Blue Hens Roll Past Tribe, 2-0

Thursday, October 18

STUART & SUZANNE GRANT STADIUM

7:00 PM

University of Delaware

4-11-1, 3-5-0

The College of William & Mary

6-9-1, 3-4-1

William & Mary

Delaware

Photo by: Mark Campbell

10/18/2018 11:33:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – The temperatures may be cooling off, but it's not effecting the red-hot Riley Dixon and the University of Delaware women's soccer team.

The Blue Hens scored two goals for the second straight game en route to a dominating 2-0 win over the Tribe of William & Mary on a chilly night at Grant Stadium. Sophomore Riley Dixon became just the third player in the past five years to score two games for Delaware to lead the offensive attack.

Dixon's big night continued her strong play of late as she has now had a hand in all five of the Blue Hens' goals (three goals, two assists) over the past week.

Defensively, freshman Kamryn Stablein registered her third shutout of the season, tallying four saves on the evening. Stablein is the first freshman in program history to record three shutouts in her first collegiate season.

The momentum started early for the Blue Hens, who came out aggressive from the opening kick. Delaware drew a corner kick in the first five minutes and didn't stop from there.

In the ninth minute, sophomore Damali Simon-Ponte dribbled through the left side of the Tribe defense and found a cutting Toni Starova on the right side of the box. Starova fired a shot, but it hit the left post. Dixon was right there to clean it up, finding the bottom left corner of the net to give the Blue Hens a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, Dixon nearly made it 2-0, fighting through a 1-on-1 ball along the end line and forced a diving save from the Tribe. A few minutes later, Delaware would once again have another scoring opportunity when a scramble in front led to the W&M keeper being pulled out and the ball being on the foot of Starova again, but a Tribe defender was able to make the stop and keep things at 1-0.

W&M would start to pressure late in the first half and nearly tied things up in the 36^thminute, but Stablein was able to make a save in a 1-on-1 situation to keep the Blue Hens in front headed into halftime.

Yet again, Delaware would come out strong with Dani Kabat gathering a loose ball from midfield and lofting a pass over the Tribe defense and allowing Dixon to use her speed to get through defenders and gain a 1-on-1 breakaway, which she fired home her second goal of the night and fourth of the season.

In the 63^rdminute, W&M would fire a long distance shot, but it clanked off the crossbar and from then on Stablein and the Blue Hen defense stifled all scoring opportunities en route to the 2-0 victory.

Quotable

"It's a funny thing when things don't go your way and your faced with those brick walls of adversity throughout the season. You learn about the people you have in your program during those moments. Those moments exposes the character of your student-athletes. To see the confidence and the way this group is competing, it says everything that you need know about who they are as people." – Head Coach Mike Barroquiero

"This was really a team win. We were playing for each other and playing for our seniors. It was the last time that they would be playing on our home field and we wanted to send them out the right way. When we're continuing to play and fight for each other, we've always got a chance and tonight, we were able to come out with a win." – Sophomore Riley Dixon

Up Next

Delaware wraps up the regular season with a trip to James Madison, who sits in first place in the CAA heading into the final weekend. The Blue Hens need at least a tie to earn a spot in the upcoming CAA Tournament. Game time on Sunday in Harrisonburg is set for 1 p.m.