The William and Mary field hockey team matched Delaware shot-for-shot on Sunday afternoon, but came up just shy on the scoreboard in a 5-3 setback to the defending conference champions.  The Tribe moves to 4-8 on the year and 1-1 in the CAA, while the Blue Hens improved to 7-5 overall, 2-0 in league play.

Box Score

Delaware struck first in the game, scoring on a corner just over 15 minutes in.  Tribe senior Emma Clifton (Loomberah, NSW) responded in kind in the 22nd minute, taking the pass in off a corner and driving towards the goal before firing off her third goal of the year.  Four minutes later, Delaware went back up again, and just before the half, W&M earned another tie.  Senior Brittany Hopkins (Springfield, Va.) drove straight downfield into the circle, and dished off to junior Pippin Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) who shot past the keeper's head into the upper corner at the far post.  It was Saunders' team-leading sixth goal of the year, and the second assist for Hopkins.  Saunders and Clifton nearly gave the Tribe a 3-2 lead with just seconds to go before halftime, but the crossing pass to Clifton was just a quarter-inch in front of the senior's swing and ran entirely through the area.

Coming out of the intermission, the Blue Hens regained a one-goal lead early in the 38th, taking a 3-2 advantage.  About 10 minutes later, Saunders tried to flick a short shot between the goalkeeper's pads, but a Delaware defender was there to sweep it off the goal-line.  The reprieve was short-lived, as senior captain Jesse Ebner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) gathered in the ball above the circle and passed in to Clifton, who buried her second goal of the day into the boards to bring the score even again at 3-3.  It was Ebner's first point of the season, and the 10th assist of her career.  The visitors would again score to go up one in the 52nd minute, and then followed quicly with a penalty corner in the 54th minute to peg the final margin at 5-3.

For the game, the Tribe and the Blue Hens took 16 shots each and made six saves apiece, with all of W&M's being credited to junior Meredith Savage (Virginia Beach, Va.).  The Tribe also had a 7-5 advantage in penalty corners, including a 5-1 edge in the second half.

William and Mary hits the road next weekend, playing at James Madison on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m.