The William and Mary field hockey team had five names called Thursday at the Colonial Athletic Association Pre-Championships Banquet, with four athletes and Coach Tess Ellis earning all-conference recognition for their achievements so far in 2013.  The Tribe had two named first-team All-CAA for the first time since 2004, and also had a second-team honoree, all-rookie team member, and all-academic award-winner.

Leading the way was senior Taylor Hodge (Louisville, Ky.), who was named first-team All-CAA as well as to the CAA All-Academic team for her first all-conference awards.  Hodge had one of the finest offensive seasons for a Tribe player in the past decade, scoring 10 goals with two assists.  It was the most goals scored at W&M since Kelly Giles '06 and 14 in 2004.  Two of her goals were game-winners, against Towson and in the overtime upset of No. 18 American.  Hodge also shined in W&M's upset of No. 5 Virginia, making a defensive save in the first half and scoring in the second of the 2-1 victory.  In the Tribe's final game of the regular season, she took 13 shots, the second-most ever for a Tribe player, and scored the tying goal to force overtime against Hofstra where W&M would eventually win 2-1 in double-OT.  Hodge's selection to the first-ever All-Academic team also comes as no surprise, as the kinesiology major has been named to NFHCA All-Academic squad all three years so far, as well as earning W&M Provost's Award honors each of the last two seasons for carrying a GPA over 3.5.

Also joining the All-CAA first team is sophomore Pippin Saunders (Mittagong, NSW), who led the Tribe with seven goals and nine assists in the regular season.  A member of the all-rookie team a year ago and a pre-season all-conference honoree, Saunders has more assists through her first two seasons (15) than any other player in school history.  Saunders' goal-scoring also led to a pair of game-winning goals, the first against No. 5 Virginia, and the second just last weekend as she scored in double-overtime to lift the Tribe over Hofstra and into the CAA Tournament.  Her nine goals this season are tied for the fifth-most ever at W&M, and she leads the CAA in both assists and assists per game.

Earning her first all-conference award is senior captain Chaney Manganello (Richmond, Va.), who was selected to the All-CAA second-team after being named honorable-mention in the pre-season.  Manganello has started every single match of the last three years, 54 in a row, and has been a key part of the Tribe defense all three years.  This year, W&M's defense leads the league with the biggest reduction in shots allowed after halftime (only 46.67% of shots allowed after the half), and ranks third in the league at 10.83 shots allowed per game.  Manganello can also get work done on the other end of the field, where she ranks third on the Tribe with three assists.  Her helpers include Hodge's goal against Virginia, as well as assists against Radford and Louisville.

Freshman Maria Pastor (Burke, Va.) appeared in 18 matches with four starts in her first collegiate campaign, and was named to the CAA All-Rookie team as a result.  Often the first player off the bench for the Tribe (when she doesn't start), Pastor has scored two goals and an assist so far this season, and ranks 11th among league rookies in both goals and points (five).  Her tallies came at the expense of VCU and Michigan, and she also assisted on game-winner against James Madison in the conference opener.

Last but certainly not least, Tess Ellis was voted by her peers as CAA co-Coach of the Year, sharing the award with Delaware's Rolf van de Kerkhof.  Taking over as the head coach a week before the first game after 18 years as a Tribe assistant, Ellis led the team to several jaw-dropping wins and the No. 4 seed in this weekend's conference tournament.  W&M earned wins at No. 5 Virginia and at No. 18 American in the space of two weeks in October, and played its way into the CAA Tournament with a double-overtime triumph over Hofstra last Sunday, the first 2OT victory for W&M since the 2002 season.  Ellis' award is the fourth Coach of the Year honor in school history, after predecessor Peel Hawthorne '80 was honored in 1995, 2001, and 2004.

William and Mary opens the CAA Tournament Friday afternoon, taking on No. 1-seed and 17th-ranked Delaware at 4 p.m.  The game, and the rest of the tournament, while be broadcast live (and free!) from Newark, Del., on CAA.TV.