Williamsburg - The William and Mary field hockey team dropped its home opener to Big Ten foe Northwestern, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Busch Field. Senior
Erica Eng scored the long Tribe goal off a penalty stroke in the second half. The Tribe falls to 1-2 on the season, while the Wildcats up their ledger to 3-2.
Box Score
The Wildcats got on the board in the sixth minute of play on a goal from Chelsea Armstrong. After Kaylee Pohlmeyer penetrated the circle on the left side of the area, she dished back to Armstrong along the top part of the circle, and the sophomore forward lifted a stop into the top right side of the net to give NU a 1-0 advantage.
Armstrong extended the lead to two with her second tally of the match and sixth of the season in the 15th minute. She stole the ball in the midfield and carried it into the right side of the circle. Her shot toward the far post deflected off a W&M defender and into the right side of the cage.
Regan Mooney pushed the NU advantage to three just over four minutes later. Mooney had three successive shots on frame, before eventually cashing one in. Tribe senior goalkeeper
Camilla Hill was up to the task on the first two shots, but the NU forward was able to find the boards with the third for her third goal of the season.
The College narrowly missed a scoring opportunity in the 26th minute. Senior
Rebecca Wagner sent a long pass from outside the area on the right side that made it through to the back post. Freshman reserve
Taylor Hodge just missed getting a stick to it.
Hodge had another dangerous chance for the Green and Gold in the 31st minute. The Louisville, Ky., native took a shot from in close on the left side and beat the Northwestern goalkeeper to the left side of the cage, but NU defender Zoe Almquist was there to clear it off the line. The Tribe earned back-to-back penalty corners moments later, but could only get a
Maria Caro shot wide right of the goal on the second chance.
Out of the intermission, Northwestern pushed the margin to 4-0 with a goal via the penalty corner in the 44th minute. Nikki Parsley tipped a hard shot from the top of the circle by Armstrong into the boards for her first goal of the season.
Eng got the Tribe on the board in the 59th minute on a goal off the penalty stroke. The penalty was a result of some nice Tribe pressure as a W&M shot from the left side of the area beat the Wildcat goalkeeper to the right side of the cage. As the ball made its way toward the right side boards, it was kicked by a defender, resulting in the penalty chance. Eng beat Northwestern backstop Amanda Wirth for her eighth career goal.
Northwestern finished with a 17-8 advantage in shots, while the College held the advantage in penalty corners at 6-4. Hill finished with nine saves in goal for the College.
William and Mary returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 5, when it welcomes instate foe Radford to Williamsburg. The contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start time at Busch Field. Live stats will be available on the Web at TribeAthletics.com.
