The William and Mary field hockey team thoroughly controlled the stat sheet against Hofstra Sunday afternoon, but couldn't must the final breakthrough at the goal as the Tribe fell 4-2 at Busch Field.  William and Mary is now 6-2 on the year and 1-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while Hofstra improves to 8-5 overall, and a similar 1-1 ledger in league play.

The visitors jumped on the scoreboard early, living up to their billing as one of the nation's top offenses as they built a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of play Sunday afternoon.  From there, however, the tribe dug its heels in and took control of the match, gaining one goal back almost immediately.  Redshirt-junior Leah Zamesnik (Norfolk, Va.) got into the shooting circle on the right side, and as the defenders collapsed to her shot the ball through to freshman Brittany Hopkins (Springfield, Va.).  With only the keeper to beat, Hopkins poked the ball through from four yards out, and stuck it in the back boards before the 19th minute was out.

Before the half left out, W&M mustered six more shots, peppering the Hofstra goal but just unable to put one through.  Hopkins head another chance that was saved, but perhaps the most impressive try came from freshman Emma Clifton (Loomberah, NSW, Australia) in the 32nd minute.  Off of a corner, Clifton ended up with the ball straightaway at the top of the circle.  She launched a rocket at goal that was just a quarter-inch too high, banging off the crossbar with enough force to come halfway back up the shooting circle.  Sophomore Taylor Hodge (Louisville, Ky.) gathered the rebound and sent it back at goal, but the ball was again just a little too wide and flew of the endline just wide of the post.

W&M's first-half efforts led to only a modest 9-7 advantage in shots, but the Tribe's absolutely dominated the second half, taking 12 shots to Hofstra's four and adding five corners.  Included in that total were efforts by Hopkins (in the 51st) and Clifton (in the 63rd) that cleared the keeper and were heading to goal, but Hofstra defenders were able to get a stick to them at the last moment and clear off the line.  The visitors would get one more goal at the beginning of the 63rd, and junior Maria Caro (Martinsville, N.J.) would answer with her first goal of the season with 45 seconds left to set the final score.  The tall midfielder got the ball at the top of the circle on the right quarter, and deftly dribbled through the defense to the near post and flicked the ball in to the far side for the score.

William and Mary returns to action next weekend with a split pair of matches.  Friday (Sept. 30), the Tribe heads to Delaware to face the Blue Hens in a CAA match-up at 5 p.m., before returning home Sunday at 1 p.m. to take on long-time rival Richmond.