The GW women’s soccer team recovered from a sudden-death loss Friday against Rhode Island to notch a shocking win against one of the nation’s top teams Sunday at Mount Vernon field.

The win keeps GW’s slim post-season chances alive, as the women battle for the fourth playoff spot in its last two game next week.

Senior Day provided a mental boost for forward Tiffany Williams Sunday, as the Colonials hosted UMass, which was ranked among the top 30 teams in the nation earlier this season. She carried the offensive weight with a goal and two assists as the Colonials cruised to a 3-0 victory. GW goalkeeper Christine O’Malley made five saves for her third shutout this season.

Williams started the scoring off early with her first assist to Kim Warner for GW’s first goal, Warner’s team-leading eighth on the season.

The Colonials scored again with five minutes remaining in the first half. Williams started things off, this time feeding freshman Meghan Cracker in the box. Cracker poked the ball past UMass goalkeeper Kelly Nigh and put GW up by two.

Williams scored a goal of her own seven minutes after halftime, when sophomore Caite Terranova laid the ball in the box for Williams to run down and notch a goal, her first of the season.

UMass was never able to answer, as O’Malley posted her her fourth shutout of the season.

Prior to their win Sunday, the Colonials lost to Rhode Island Friday evening when Rams’ midfielder Shannon Kittleson’s scored in sudden death overtime and handed the Colonials a 1-0 loss.

O’Malley made 11 saves on the day but could not stop Kittleson. Despite stellar GW defense and goalkeeping, the offense had trouble controlling the ball on the URI side of the field.

GW, which has 12 points after this weekend’s games, needs to win its final two conference matches against St. Bonaventure and Duquesne to get the final spot. Both teams are below GW in the standings.

The Colonials (4-5 A-10) post-season fate is not solely in the team’s hands. Rhode Island (5-3 A-10) and Richmond (5-4 A-10), which both have 15 points, each need to lose conference matches next week for the Colonials to qualify.

Dayton (9-0 A-10), UMass (7-2 A-10) and Xavier (6-3 A-10) already have enough points for the first three qualifying spots.