The William and Mary field hockey team ran its winning streak to five Friday night in Williamsburg, rolling past Radford 4-0 in the home opener.  The Tribe is now 5-0 on the season, its best start since 2006 and tied for the fourth-best start to the year ever.

Box Score

The Tribe held a dominating 28-3 edge in shots and 14-1 advantage in penalty corners, leading to the four goals and four assists.  The first, and winning, tally came off the stick of senior Ashley Kyle (San Diego, Calif.) in the 18th minute.  Sophomore Emma Clifton (Loomberah, NSW) carried the ball in through the right side of Radford's defense, then passed through to find Kyle loitering in the middle.  The senior banged her shot home past the goalkeeper's foot at the near post for her second game-winner of the season.

Just over two minutes later, Clifton reached the back of the net herself.  Off a corner, senior captain Christine Johnson (Williamsburg, Va.) fired a shot from the top of the circle that took a glancing deflection off an onrushing defender.  Clifton was right there to stop the carrom, and while being knocked down hit a chopping, bouncing shot past the defense and into the boards on the far side of the goal.

Clifton's big first half continued in the 31st minute, with the Australian sophomore's second assist of the night and her first career four-point game.  After a penalty corner for W&M broke down into a scrum, Clifton had the ball near the edge on the back side of the circle.  She ripped a powerful shot back across the circle to the far post, and it was redirected into the goal off the stick of senior Allison Moran (Wynnewood, Pa.) to send the Tribe into the half up 3-0.

W&M kept up the pressure in the second half, with 11 shots to none for Radford, and all but one coming on frame.  The Highlanders' goalkeeper performed well, turning away all but the last shot of the game, but the Tribe finally broke through and tacked on a fourth goal to the night's effort.  With just under two minutes left, fifth-year senior Leah Zamesnik (Norfolk, Va.) had her first shot off a corner turned away, but gathered the rebound and sent it right back in at high speed.  Freshman Pip Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) got her stick on the ball at the near post and tipped it up past the keeper and into the top of the net, scoring her second goal of the year in the process.

William and Mary's four-match homestand continues on Tuesday, with the Tribe hosting longtime-rival Virginia at 7 p.m.  The Cavaliers were ranked sixth in this week's national polls, but a new edition will be released Tuesday afternoon ahead of the match.