The William and Mary field hockey team scored its quickest goal of the season Saturday afternoon, but it was not quite enough to hold off No. 16 Temple as the Owls took the match, 4-1. The Tribe is now 5-9 on the year, while the Owls improved to 11-5 overall.
Box ScoreW&M took the opening pass of the game straight to goal, scoring just 21 seconds into the match. Junior
Pippin Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) drove the field to the baseline, and passed the ball into freshman
Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.) who put the Temple goalkeeper to the test right away. The shot was saved, but sophomore
Maria Pastor (Burke, Va.) read the angles brilliantly and made a diving poke up and over the prone keeper for her third goal of the season.
The defense stood stout for the next thirty minutes, almost the full length of the half, with junior goalkeeper
Meredith Savage (Virginia Beach, Va.) making three of her five saves in the stretch. Temple got the equalizer in the 31st minute off a weaving drive through the circle, and drew a corner at the start of the 34th minute. Senior defender
Kelsea Hull (Fredericksburg, Va.) made a quick strike with her stick, though, and preserved the tie with her third defensive save of the year.
The Tribe again started the second half quickly, taking the first shot of the period, but Temple took the lead on an unlucky deflection and added an insurance goal late with a player advantage. Shots in the match were even, at 12 each, while the Owls had a 3-1 advantage on penalty corners.
William and Mary is back in action next weekend with a pair of matches. On Friday night, the Tribe travels up to VCU for a 6:30 p.m. match-up before returning home Sunday to play CAA foe Drexel. The noon match against the Dragons will be preceded by Senior Day ceremonies, as W&M honors its eight seniors.
