SPORTS

Hannah Casey (#5) in the Wildcats home game against WCU.

KINGSTON, R.I. — An early score by Rhode Island proved to be the difference in a tightly contested Atlantic 10 women’s soccer opener Sunday afternoon, as the Davidson Wildcats fell 1-0 to the Rams.

Tali O’Leary scored 1:15 into the match to give Rhode Island the lead it never lost.

“Disappointed to start off conference play and lose a tight game, but we have to draw a line under it and start over,” said Davidson coach Adam Denton.  “We settled into the game and competed, and the game was basically played in the middle third of the field, but we didn’t have enough quality in the final third or create enough opportunities.”

The Rams held a 4-1 advantage on corners and a 5-3 edge in shots. Davidson’s shots came from Aleia Gisolfi-McCready 25 seconds into the second half, from Hannah Casey on a header at the 54-minute mark and from Emma Nguyen with 14 seconds to play.

Up Next
The Wildcats remain in A-10 play when they host Saint Joseph’s Thursday, Sept. 23 at Alumni Stadium. That’s followed by a trip to Dayton three days later.