HARRISONBURG, VA - The William and Mary field hockey rebounded quite well Sunday in its second match of the season, hanging a 1-0 shutout on Rutgers despite having to play 10-v-11 for 10 of the last 11-and-a-half minutes of the game. With the win, the Tribe improves to 1-1 on the season, while Rutgers falls to 0-2.
Box Score
After junior goalkeeper
Camilla Hill (Williamsburg, Va.) stonewalled four Rutgers shots in the first half to preserve a 0-0 score, seniors
Rebecca Wagner (Virginia Beach, Va.) and
Jenna Cinalli (Fredericksburg, Va.) clicked on a penalty corner early in the 44th minute to put the Tribe on top. Receiving the insert from the corner, Cinalli found Wagner in a window on the left, and Wagner slotted home her first goal of the season and 11th of her career.
To that point, the College held a 3-2 advantage in penalty corners, but Rutgers turned on the pressure after going down and forced six opportunities in the final 25 minutes. William and Mary's defense proved up to the task, however, and killed three of the chances outright, blocked the shot on another, and forced the final two Scarlet Knight attempts to be misfired wide of the goal. In fact, none of Rutgers' four second half shots were put on frame due to the sterling defensive effort put forth by the Tribe. Even more remarkable, a 10-minute penalty was called on the Tribe with 11:30 to go, forcing W&M to play short in the most crucial portion of the game. The team was up to the task however, adn held on to preserve the victory.
Wagner's goal was the fourth game-winner of her career, moving her into a tie for 16th all-time at the College. Hill recorded the second shutout of her career, and finished with four saves to give her 100 stops all-time, tied for 13th-most in school history. Cinalli's assist was her third, and the first since helping on two goals in 2008.
William and Mary returns to Busch Field for two games next weekend, hosting Northwestern at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4th, and taking on Radford on Sunday, Sept. 5th, also at 2 p.m.
