WILLIAMSBURG - The William and Mary women's soccer team will travel to Fairfax, Virginia to take part in the George Mason Tournament. The College will face the Cornell Big Red on Friday, September 18, at 5 p.m. and the Long Island Blackbirds on Sunday, September 20, at Noon. Live stats for both matches can be found at TribeAthletics.com.

Scouting the Tribe
The William and Mary Tribe enter this weekend's tournament with a 4-2 record on the season after splitting its two games in the Fairfield Inn and Suites Marriott Tribe Invitational this past week. The Tribe lost to UC Santa Barbara last Wednesday, 2-0, before rebounding against Coastal Carolina on Friday, winning 3-0.

In its victory of Coastal Carolina on Friday, the Tribe used three second half goals from junior Brittany Lane, senior Sarah Quinlan, and junior Kaitlin O'Connor to pull away from the Chanticleers in the second half. Junior Grace Barnard and redshirt freshman Katherine Yount combined to secure the shutout, each finishing with a save apiece.

For the season, freshman Erin Liberatore leads the Green and Gold with three goals and six points, while senior Krissy Vornadore leads the team with four assists. The College has spread out its goal scoring early this year, with only senior Kellie Jenkins joining Liberatore with multiple goals (2). A total of seven Tribe players have netted the school's 10 goals this season.

Scouting the Big Red
The Cornell Big Red has begun its season with a 0-3-1 record heading into its match with Colgate on Wednesday, September 16. The Big Red has been shutout twice this season, and has only scored two goals so far this year.

On the season, Sidra Bonner has scored both of Cornell's goals this season, while Sam Wright and Xandra Hompe have both tallied assists. On the year, the Big Red has been out-scored by its opponents, 8-2.

Last season, the Big Red went 2-12-1, finishing last in the Ivy League. Despite its record, Cornell looks to be much improved from a year ago, having lost only two letter-winners from last year's team.

The last time that these two teams faced off against each other was more than 20 years ago. Back in the 1988 season, the Tribe was able to get a 5-0 victory over the Big Red. In total, the College leads the series with a 2-1 record.

Scouting the Blackbirds
The Long Island University Blackbirds enter this weekend's George Mason Tournament with a record of 4-1 on the year. Before facing the Tribe, Long Island will play George Mason on Friday, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.

The defense has been the story for the Blackbirds early this year, having only allowed one goal so far in its five matches to date. The lone goal came in the Blackbirds' loss to St. John's on September 11. Kayleigh Morgan leads LIU with two goals, while five players for the Blackbirds have notched assists.

In the preseason, Long Island was selected to finish second in the Northeast Conference behind defending conference champion Central Connecticut State. Last season, the Blackbirds went 16-4-1, including going undefeated in the conference season before losing to CCSU in the NEC title match.

When the Tribe and the Blackbirds meet each other on Sunday, it will be the first time that the two squads have faced off on the pitch.

Tribe News and Notes
- Junior Brittany Lane scored the first game-winning goal of her career against Coastal Carolina on September 9. Lane took a great pass from senior Krissy Vornadore and beat the keeper to the left, scoring the first of the Tribe's three goals in its 3-0 victory over the Chanticleers.

- After its two wins over ranked opponents last week, the Tribe entered the national polls last week. William and Mary was ranked #22 in the rankings released by Soccer America on September 8 and received votes in the NSCAA National Poll. The Tribe was also ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Poll released last week, but slipped to second in this week's rankings.

- William and Mary junior goalkeeper Grace Barnard was named CAA Player of the Week on September 7. Barnard recorded her first career shutout against #17 BYU on September 4 and then held the powerful #21 Utah offense to just one goal in the College's upset win over the Utes.

- Both junior Grace Barnard and freshman Erin Liberatore were named "Primetime Performers of the Week" by CollegeSoccer360.com on September 8. Barnard allowed only one goal in a pair of matches against #17 BYU and #21 Utah, while Liberatore scored a pair of goals during the week, including the game-winner against the Cougars in double overtime.

- The Tribe beat a pair of ranked teams in back-to-back matches for the first time since 2002 this week when the College beat #17 BYU and #21 Utah.

- A pair of freshmen scored the first goals of their William and Mary careers against Monmouth. Mallory Schaffer scored the first goal of the match against the Hawks, while classmate Erin Liberatore notched the Green and Gold's third goal.

- Junior Kaitlin O'Connor and sophomore Diana Weigel were each named to the Preseason All-CAA team through a poll of the conference's coaches. O'Connor, who was named to the All-CAA Third Team in 2008, had a great season for the Tribe. O'Conner was a great leader for the Tribe's defense and started all 21 games last season that she appeared in, helping lead the College to the CAA regular season championship. Weigel, who was named to the Soccer Buzz Freshman All-American Team, also earned All-CAA Rookie honors after her fantastic freshman campaign. Weigel notched four goals and also tallied four assists in her first season for the Green and Gold.

- In a poll of the Colonial Athletic Association's coaches, the Tribe was picked to finish second in the conference, just 14 points shy of James Madison who was picked to win the league this season.