CHARLESTON, S.C. – Laura Ortega's last second free-kick gave the College of Charleston women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over William & Mary in the Colonial Athletic Association opener at Patriots Point. With the goal, Ortega moves into tied for first in the all-time career points total for the Cougars women's soccer program.

Charleston started the brighter with Ana Lesmes, Alyssa Beck and Rachel Kim all having efforts in the opening 15 minutes. Kim came the closest after a Lesmes corner was dropped by the Tribe goalkeeper, but the effort was cleared off the line.

Beck expertly found Talia Colchico with a cross-field ball in the 18^th minute but Colchico's effort from the edge of the box narrowly missed the right corner.

Luciana Garcia Riefkohl nearly gave Charleston the lead on the stroke of half-time but her effort from 18-yards was tipped round the right-hand post.

The Cougars continued to carve opportunities in the second half wth Raymara Barreto blazing over from the edge of the box and Beck seeing her effort from eight yards roll past the left post.

In the 67^th minute Colchico gave Charleston the lead. Ortega combined with Lesmes in the middle who played Colchico on the left-hand edge of the box. Colchico cut inside and curled a right footed effort into the top right corner for her second goal of the season.

The Tribe would hit back minutes later with Renee Kohler combining with Colleen Norton before smashing a 20-yard effort off the crossbar and in to level the game.

As the game entered the final seconds Charleston won a free-kick in the left channel just outside the box. Ortega curled the ball right-footed into the top left corner to give Charleston the 2-1 victory, their first over William & Mary in history, and move into joint-first for career points at CofC.

Charleston, 6-4-0 (1-0 CAA), now look to Sunday's CAA matchup against Drexel at Patriots Point Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for noon.

Postgame Quotes - Head Coach Christian Michner
On Laura Ortega's free-kick and moving into joint first for career points…
"Laura's different class and she's a really special player. Big players show up in moments like that and she's done that throughout her entire career. It was the time to step up and she buried an absolutely brilliant free-kick and won the game right at the death. What an achievement for Laura… to do that in a program that as much history as CofC does. She's had an amazing career so far and scored a blinder to get herself in the records books. What a time to do it and what a girl… real happy for her."

On the game…
"I thought we created tons of chances to win the game. Their goalkeeper did a great job of keeping them in it and William & Mary's a great team… But my team, thankfully, created enough chances to win the game and certainly thought we were the better team for large periods of it. Always great to start, we want to start fast and finish strong. So to win at home is super important, against a storied program like William & Mary, it hardly gets better than that so really proud of the Cougs tonight."

Senior Forward Laura Ortega
On the free-kick…
"I was thinking so many things but at the same time I was just focusing on the ball. People were telling me that they were screaming at me, but I didn't listen to anyone… I was just focused on thinking about how hard we have worked all through the game and the entire preseason, non-conference games, so it was my chance to do it and make everything worth it."

On moving into joint-first for career points at Charleston…
"I didn't really know until right now… I don't know, I guess it's a big thing. When I first come here I didn't think about it or even until a couple of games ago I didn't know. I'm very proud and it's of course because of my teammates and all the teamwork we put in."

Notables
• Laura Ortega scored her first game-winner of the season to move into joint-first in all-time career points at CofC
• Ortega is now tied second all-time in career goals and four away from the record outright
• The entire Charleston defense played the full 90 minutes (Henderson, L. Deutsch, Kim, Tunney, Brill-Edwards)
• Alyssa Beck led the attack with five efforts, three on goal
• Talia Colchico scored her second goal of the season
• Charleston pick up their first win over William & Mary in history
• Meredith Tunney continues to be the only Charleston student-athlete to play every minute of every game this season (911)

Next Up
Charleston face Drexel in the second round of conference play. The Cougars welcome the Dragons to Patriots Point Soccer Complex for a noon kickoff on Sunday.