Richmond goalkeeper Shawn Alexander made saves on two of three penalty shots en route to the Spiders 2-1 victory over the GW men’s soccer team at the Mount Vernon field Saturday. The loss evened the Colonials overall record to 3-3 and 0-1 in the team’s first Atlantic 10 Conference game.

Alexander made a crucial save on a Matthew Osborne penalty shot at the 56-minute mark. The save sustained a 1-1 tie and led to Richmond’s game-winning goal a minute later.

With the game at 1-1, the Spiders defense brought down GW senior Michael Goldman in the Richmond (4-3-1, 1-0 A-10) penalty box. Osborne, who had scored a penalty shot earlier in the game, was awarded the chance to break the tie and give GW the go-ahead goal against one of the toughest teams in the A-10.

After Alexander dove to his right and made the save, Richmond was able to control the ball and push to GW’s goal. As play continued, the Spiders broke through the Colonials defense, allowing forward Ben Corfield to put a shot off a defensive rebound past GW goalkeeper Nick Parypinski, lifting the Spiders to a 2-1 lead. Parypinski would make three saves on 15 shots during the contest. Alexander made 10 saves on 22 shots.

About 200 people showed up to root on the Colonials in their first A-10 game. What they saw was a physical match marked by 61 total penalties – four penalties resulting in three yellow cards and three penalty kicks occurred in the game’s opening minutes. Both teams racked up two penalties apiece in the game’s opening three minutes.

After GW sophomore Riccardo Forno received a yellow card at the 3:48 mark, the Colonials mounted an offensive assault that included three shots on goal, two of which were fired from the left wing by GW sophomore Jeremy Catlin.

Osborne put GW on the board when he fired a penalty shot past Alexander to give the Colonials an early 1-0 lead. It was Osborne’s fifth goal of the season, tying him with senior Matt Pilkington for the team lead.

Richmond scored eight minutes later when midfielder Paul Kelly redirected a free kick from the left wing past Parypinski. The teams went into halftime knotted at 1-1.

The Colonials failed to convert any of the 13 shots they fired over the course of the second half. Pilkington led GW in the second half with two shots. Senior Jason Holloway, who was making his return after missing four games because of a hamstring injury, fired a shot in each half.

Richmond broke the 1-1 tie a minute after Osborne missed the penalty
shot.

GW head coach George Lidster said the Spiders, the newest addition to the A-10, are the best team in the conference. GW, which pledged to return to the A-10 Championship after a first-round exit at last year’s tournament, sought to use this game to see where the Colonials stand among the elite teams of the A-10.