The William & Mary field hockey team returns home this weekend to begin a four-game, season-ending homestand that begins with two matches on Homecoming Weekend.  The Tribe hosts No. 19 James Madison on Friday night at 7 p.m., in a pivotal Colonial Athletic Association match-up, before welcoming VCU to town Sunday at 1 p.m.

HOMECOMING PARKING ADVISORY
Friday's game against JMU will coincide with the conclusion of the Homecoming Parade, which means parking will be very interesting.  The safest recommendation is to park at the School of Education lot, on Monticello Avenue, and follow the walking path up Compton Dr. to the W&M Hall/Busch Field area.  Another option will be to try the Adair Parking Deck, and then walk up Ukrop way to approach Busch Field from the opposite direction.  For complete parking information and maps for the weekend, please visit http://www.wm.edu/offices/auxiliary/parkingandtransportation/advisories-parking/parking-advisory---wm-campaign-and-homecoming-2015.php.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M is 5-10 overall and 1-3 in the CAA, after a tough road trip to Philly last week.  Senior Pippin Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) leads the Tribe in scoring with 21 points, on nine goals and three assists, while sophomore Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) is close behind with seven goals.  Classmates Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) and Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.) have also reached double-digits, with 12 (3g, 6a) and 10 points (5g), respectively.  On defense, Booter Ellis (Delmar, Del.) has three defensive saves, and Meredith Savage (Virginia Beach, Va.) has a 2.61 GAA and 65 saves.

Scouting the Dukes
James Madison is leading the CAA at 11-4 overall, 4-0 in conference play, and ranked No. 19 in the latest NFHCA National Poll.  The Dukes are being led offensively by Loes Stijntjes with 23 points, coming on nine goals and five assists, and Taylor West is close behind with 10 goals and two assists.  Defensively, Sara Kraeutler has played every minute in goal with a 1.78 GAA and 74 saves.

Scouting the Rams
VCU comes into the weekend at 4-10 overall and 2-4 in the Atlantic 10, and will play Longwood on Friday night.  Freshman Emily McNamara has a team-leading 17 points on six goals and five assists, and Jamee Albright is also in double-digits with five goals and one assist.  In goal, Kendall Clifton has played the majority of minutes with a 2.88 GAA and 50 saves, while Chessa Kownurko has seen high action in the last several games with a 2.65 GAA and 38 stops on a .745 save percentage.

The Series
- The Tribe is 20-36-6 all-time against the Dukes, and 9-12-2 in Williamsburg.  W&M has won each of the last two years, 4-3, including an overtime victory in Harrisonburg last season.

- W&M is 41-9 all-time against VCU, including a 16-3 mark in Williamsburg.  The Rams have won three of the last four, including a 2-1 victory last fall in Richmond.

News and Notes
- Next Friday's game, Oct. 30, against Hofstra will be the Tribe's "Breast Cancer Awareness" game.  Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match.

- Each of the Tribe's last three losses have come by a single goal.

- The Tribe scored both of its goals against Towson on penalty strokes, bring the season total to four stroke goals on five attempts.  The four goals is tied for third all-time with the 1999 team, behind only the nine scored in 1995 and seven in 1993.  The five attempts are the fourth-most in school history, behind those three other teams.

- Junior Amanda McAteer (King of Prussia, Pa.) has scored two of her three penalty attempts, both numbers the fourth-most ever.  The school record in both categories is seven, by Saskia Bensdorp '98 in 1995.

- W&M was rated No. 28 in the first rating percentage index release, matching its best-ever rating in the RPI since the NCAA began keeping it for field hockey in 2006.

- This season saw the third time since 1993 that W&M has played two different teams with the same ranking within 10 days of each other.  The Tribe played No. 4 Duke on Sunday, Sept. 13, and No. 4 Virginia on Monday, Sept. 21.  The record for shortest seperation was three days in 1997, when W&M played No. 2 North Carolina and No. 2 Virginia.  The first time it happened was in 1994, with matches against No. 2 Northwestern and No. 2 Virginia coming a week apart.

- Saunders is rapidly closing in on several significant career milestones.  She has 21 career assists, tied for second-most all-time and just four from the record set last year by former teammate Emma Clifton '15.  Saunders also has 34 goals for W&M, the most since Hall-of-Famer Ann Ekberg '03 graduated with 54.  If Saunders can get to 40, she'll take over sole possession of fifth on the all-time scoring list.  Finally, in points, Saunders has 89, just four away from the all-time top-five in that category.

- Lloyd's hat trick against Ohio was the first for W&M since the 2012 season opener, when Christine Johnson '13 scored four goals.  That performance earned her CAA Player of the Week honors.

- Saunders scored twice in just 15 seconds against Central Michigan.