The No. 20-ranked William and Mary field hockey team put up a great fight Friday night, but fell to No. 8 Northeastern 3-2 in the conference-opener up in Boston.  The Tribe is now 7-2 on the year, while the Huskies improved to 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Box Score

After a few minutes of back-and-forth in the middle of the field as both teams felt each other out, the Tribe got on the board first with a penalty-stroke goal in the beginning of the 19th minute.  W&M was awarded the stroke opportunity after Northeastern committed a foul to prevent a sure goal, and senior captain Christine Johnson (Williamsburg, Va.) stepped up to take the shot.  She out-foxed the Huskies goalkeeper and buried the ball, scoring her sixth of the year and second penalty-stroke in the process.  Johnson is the first Tribe player since Kelli Duggan '04 (two in 2003) to score two or more penalty strokes in a season, and also ranks tied for fourth all-time in school history.

W&M's defense carried the team into halftime on that 1-0 lead, successfully nullifying a Northeastern power play late in the half and denying five penalty corners, including four that came in a row on that power play.  Just before the half ended, junior Taylor Hodge (Louisville, Ky.) tapped a loose ball in the circle towards the unguarded back-post, but the ball slid just wide of the goal to deny the Tribe another tally.

Coming out of the break, the Huskies were finally able to break through the tough Tribe defense with three goals off of corners, the last coming with just under 10 minutes remaining.  The College refused to go quietly, however, earning a corner midway through the 64th minute.  Senior Leah Zamesnik (Norfolk, Va.) was the beneficiary of the play, taking a shot on the backside of the play that arrowed into the goal for her first tally of the year and cutting the deficit in half at 3-2.  Jesse Ebner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) and Chaney Manganello (Richmond, Va.) were credited with assists on the play, the fourth of the year for Ebner and the team-leading fifth of the season for Manganello.  The Tribe kept pressing, looking for the equalizer, but the clock eventually ran out and ended the match.

In goal, redshirt-senior Elizabeth Frey (Virginia Beach, Va.) made five saves and allowed two goals to take the loss.  Redshirt-freshman Cate Johnson (Charlottesville, Va.) came on for the final 13+ minutes, making one save and allowing one goal.

William and Mary will look to get back in the win column Sunday, when the Tribe takes on Hofstra at 12 p.m. in Hempstead, N.Y.  The Pride also lost Friday night, 7-2 to No. 9 Old Dominion.