DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University women's soccer team defeated William Peace University in a 3-0 shutout on senior night at Daly Field to secure the No. 8 seed in the USA South Conference Tournament.
 
During a rather silent first half from both squads, it seemed as though both teams would enter halftime scoreless, but freshman forward Julia Ritcey fired a shot from the left side of the field that sailed past the Pacers' goalkeeper to hit the crossbar and ricochet into the goal at the 43:57 mark to put the Cougars ahead before the break.
 
Averett (5-12-0, 5-7-0 USA South) managed to hang on to its one-point advantage over William Peace (4-14-1, 2-10-0 USA South) throughout the majority of the second half and extended the lead in the last 10 minutes of play.
 
In the 81st minute, Ritcey headed the ball into the net following a cornerkick from sophomore midfielder Annalies Jobsis to stretch the margin to two. Ritcey now leads the team in scoring with seven goals for the season.
 
And with just under three minutes left in regulation, freshman midfielder Amanda Gustavsson booted the ball from inside the box, but William Peace's Shannon Maddex blocked Gustavsson's attempt at her seventh goal of the season.
 
However, Averett's third leading scorer, freshman midfielder Johanna Ohrnberg scored off the deflection near the end of the match.
 
Along with Gustavsson and Jobsis, senior Charlotte Thibault also finished with one assist for the Cougars.

Prior to the match, Averett honored its four seniors — Thibault, Cathrine Onarheim, Emma Olsson and Minja Antikainen — with a pregame senior night ceremony. Click here for photos.
 
The conference victory allowed Averett's four seniors and the team a chance to continue their season. The Cougars will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, to play No.1 seed Meredith College in the USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.