The William and Mary field hockey team put up an absolute barrage of shots against No. 18 Northeastern on Monday morning, but was unable to keep pace with the Huskies in a 4-2 loss to end the regular season.  The Tribe is now 8-10 overall and 4-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Huskies improved to 14-4 and 5-1 in the league.

Box Score

As has become customary, W&M opened the game on the attack, controlling play early and generating a couple of chances on goal.  However, it was Northeastern that struck first, scoring on a corner to go up 1-0 and then extending to 2-0 on a low-angle shot across the goal.  The Tribe had a couple of chances as well, including a corner shot from captain Jesse Ebner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) that banged off the near post, but the Huskies were able to maintain the shutout through the half while hitting a third late.

Coming out in the second half, the Tribe fended off a pair of penalty corners, then got on the board in the 40th minute.  Junior Pippin Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) was driving the field with three defenders hanging off of her, when she was tripped in the circle and was awarded a penalty stroke.  Senior Navneet Singh (Auckland, N.Z.) stepped up to take the free shot, and converted her second of the year to cut the lead to 3-1.  It was Singh's third career penalty goal, fourth-most in school history.

Over the final 23 minutes, the Tribe absolutely peppered the Northeastern defense, taking 15 shots and six penalty corners against just three shots for the Huskies, but the home team was able to score an insurance goal with 11 minutes to go.  On the other end of the field, freshman Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) cleaned up the aftermath of a scrum in the 62nd minute for her third goal of the season, setting the final margin at 4-2, and NU's keeper stood on her head against seven shots in the final five minutes to preserve the result.

For the game, the Tribe outshot the Huskies 22-13, including a 17-7 advantage in shots on goal.  W&M also held a slight edge in corners, 8-7, including six in the second half.

William and Mary now advances to the CAA Tournament, which will be held Friday and Sunday, Nov. 7-9, back in Boston at Northeastern's field.  The Tribe is the No. 3 seed in the event, and will face No. 2 Delaware in the semifinal round.  Should W&M advance to Sunday's championship match, it will have a rematch with either No. 1 Northeastern or No. 4 James Madison.  Times and coverage for all matches will be announced later this week.