The No. 19-ranked William and Mary field hockey team added another shutout to its season tally on Friday night, closing out Delaware 4-0 on a steamy night in Williamsburg.  The Tribe improves to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Blue Hens fall to 4-8 and 0-1 in league play.

Box Score

After taking the field an hour late due to lightning storms, the two sides needed a few minutes to get themselves really going in the match.  W&M jumped on the board first with a penalty corner in the 17th minute, as senior captain Christine Johnson (Williamsburg, Va.) scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season.  Sophomore Jesse Ebner (Sinking Spring, pa.) and junior Chaney Manganello (Richmond, Va.) provided the helpers on the goal, which blasted straight past the Delaware keeper too quick for her to react.  It was the second game-winning goal of the season for Johnson, who is the third member of the senior class to win two matches this season.  Just under nine minutes later, the Tribe struck again to carry a 2-0 lead into halftime.  Sophomore Brittany Hopkins (Springfield, Va.) bombed a long pass up through the defense to Pip Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) in the circle.  Beset by two defenders and the goalkeeper, Saunders turned and sent the ball to the opposite side of the cage to find Emma Clifton (Loomberah, NSW) taking a run at a suddenly open net.

Coming out of the break, it only took 10 minutes for W&M to find the back of the boards once again.  A player down due to a green card and in the midst of a scrum in front of the Delaware goal, Clifton took a shot out to the near post.  While the initial effort wasn't going to make it in, sophomore Lindsey Buckheit (East Greenwich, R.I.) was there to get her stick on it and nudge it just a little straighter and it took a slow roll over the end line for the goal.  It was Buckheit's first tally of the season.  Just 90 seconds later, Clifton struck again with her second goal of the night to push the advantage to 4-0 for the College.  On the attack, Hopkins passed to Clifton in the middle of the circle, who flicked a hard shot under the keeper.  A Blue Hen defender tried to swipe it away from the goal, but she was unable to reach it before it passed over the endline and in for the score.

From there, the Tribe began substituting liberally over the final 22 minutes and began relying on its defense and possession game in the midfield to finish out the match.  Delaware gamely made a stronger push up front over that span, but senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Frey (Virginia Beach, Va.) and the defense stood strong to preserve the shutout.  The spectacular effort included a sequence right at the end of the clock, when the Blue Hens' Carley Hecht flicked a hard shot from just two yards out past Frey.  Junior Mia Cherry (Yorktown, Va.) was there to make the stop, however, flicking the ball away to record her first career defensive save.

For the game, the Tribe held an 18-10 advantage in shots and a 6-5 lead in penalty corners.  Frey made three stops in goal to record her sixth victory and fourth shutout of the year.

William and Mary returns to action on Sunday, traveling up I-64 to take on Richmond at 1 p.m.