WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's soccer team returns home for four of its next five matches as they hosts Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field. Kickoff between the Tribe and Wolverines is set for 7 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
Chris Norris to discuss the match at Elon, returning home for the stretch run, and the match against Michigan. The video feature is available through the above link, or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
William & Mary opens a stretch of four of its next five games in Williamsburg to close out the regular season. The Tribe is get back into the win column after a pair of road losses at Hofstra and Elon. Sophomore
Antonio Bustamante leads the team with six goals, three assists, and 15 points. Sophomore
Ryder Bell is just off of the pace with five goals, three assists, and 13 points, while junior
William Eskay is third on the team with four goals, four assists, and 12 points. Freshman
Reeves Trott rounds out the double-figure scorers with four goals, two assists, and 10 assists. Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Phil Breno has started every match in goal, while redshirt senior
Mac Phillips came on in relief against Northeastern. Breno owns a 1.15 goals-against average, with 45 saves, and four shutouts.
Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan is looking to get back in the win column after failing to get there in each of its last two games. The Wolverines head to Williamsburg with a 2-7-4 overall record and a 1-4-1 in the Big Ten. Francis Atuahen leads the Wolverines with four goals, one assist, and nine points. Jack Hallahan is just off of the pace with three goals and six points, while Robbie Mertz (two goals) and Ivo Cerda (one goal, two assists) are tied for third with four points. Evan Louro has played every minute in goal for Michigan with 1.12 goals-against-average, 41 saves, and three shutouts.
Series History vs. Michigan
William & Mary welcomes Michigan to Williamsburg for the first meeting in program history on Saturday night. It is the only time this season, the Tribe opens a series against a new opponent.
The Road Ahead
The Tribe returns hits the road for the final time during the 2016 regular season as they travel to in-state rival Virginia on Tuesday, Oct. 18. W&M then returns home to open a three-game season-ending homestand with College of Charleston on Saturday, Oct. 22. Kickoff for both matches is set for 7 p.m.
Tip of the Cap
Sophomore
Antonio Bustamante recorded his first career hat trick when he netted three goals in the win over Northeastern. It was the second time in as many years that a Tribe player recorded a hat trick as junior
William Eskay netted a hat trick in a win over Liberty on Sept. 1, 2015. Prior to Eskay's hat trick the last Tribe hat trick came from Nicholas Abrigo, who netted three goals in the CAA Championship on November 14, 2010 against Hofstra.
Seventh Heaven
William & Mary lit up the scoreboard for seven goals in a 7-1 win over Northeastern on Oct. 1. The seven goals were the most since W&M picked up a 7-0 win over Richmond on Sept. 23, 2009, and was the most against a CAA opponent since an 8-0 victory over UNCW in the 2000 CAA Tournament. It also is tied for the second-most goals in Albert-Daly Field history. The seven markers were the most goals for a CAA team since Delaware scored seven versus Howard on Oct. 23, 2013.
Weekly Awards
Sophomore
Antonio Bustamante becomes the third Tribe player to win a weekly award as he was named CAA Player of the Week for Oct. 3. He recorded his first career hat trick and had an assist. Freshman
Reeves Trott picked up his second straight CAA Rookie of the Week honor after registering six points on two goals and two assists in the Tribe win at Campbell for the week of Sept. 12. He won the award the previous week after he scored a pair of game-winning goals as W&M topped No. 21 Coastal Carolina and Liberty last week.
First Time's A Charm
Due to some injuries, a trio of Tribe players made their first starts this season. Redshirt sophomore
Geoffrey Young and true freshmen
Ricardo Acosta and
Reeves Trott made the start. It was the first career start for both Acosta and Trott.
Five for Fighting
The Tribe scored five unanswered goals in the second half to take a 5-1 victory at Campbell on Saturday night. It was the most goals W&M has scored in a single match since the 2013 CAA Semifinals when the Green and Gold picked up a 6-3 victory over UNCW. The five markers were the most in any half Nov. 9, 2000 wen they beat UNCW 8-0. It was the most second half wins since the Green and Gold scored six in 9-0 victory over Delaware on Sept. 8, 2000.
On a Roll
W&M won five games in a row from Aug. 9-Sept. 13, before suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss in the final second of double overtime versus Delaware. The win streak is the team's longest since the team won seven in a row from Oct. 6-27, 2010. That season, the Green and Gold won the CAA regular season and tournament championship and advanced to the Third Round of the NCAA College Cup.
Off on the Right Foot
The Tribe has taken the first lead in seven of its 13 matches, so far this season. In the first two contests, W&M was able to do so at a quick rate with both goals coming before the 10-minute mark. Junior
William Eskay scored in the fifth minute against George Washington, before sophomore
Ryder Bell tallied in the eighth minute against Coastal Carolina.
Ranked Victories
With its win over No. 21 Coastal Carolina, the W&M men's soccer team has defeated a ranked opponent in seven of the last eight seasons. That includes a stretch of at least one ranked win from 2009-13. The Green and Gold also defeated a pair of No. 1 teams in a 10-day span back in 2013.
Record Versus Non-Conference Opponents
The Tribe played three games against Big South (3-0), which is the most of any conference aside from the CAA. W&M plays against the ACC (0-1) and Atlantic 10 (0-1) twice, and have games against the Sun Belt (1-0), Big East (1-0), and Big Ten.
Connect Four
The Tribe had four players honored with CAA All-Preseason honors on Thursday afternoon. Junior
William Eskay and sophomores
Marcel Berry, and
Antonio Bustamante earned Preseason All-CAA honors. Sophomore
Ryder Bell was tabbed to the preseason honorable mention team.
Preseason Projections
W&M was selected to finish fifth in the CAA Preseason Poll by a vote of league's head coaches. Hofstra was selected to repeat as champion. Delaware (second), Elon (third), and UNCW (fourth) rounded out the top four.
Rated Rookie
Now sophomore
Marcel Berry became just the third player in school history to be named the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2015. However that was not where the awards stopped. He was named the No. 46 best freshman by TopDrawerSoccer.com and was a Third-Team Freshman All-American by College Soccer News. Berry appeared 17 games with 15 starts, scoring three goals, four assists, and 10 points.
Summer Championship
Sophomore
Ryder Bell helped his summer team AFC Cleveland to the NPSL championship this summer. Bell scored a goal to ice the victory in stoppage time. He finished the summer with two goals and four points, but also added a pair of goals in a friendly.
Setting the Slate
W&M welcomes 11 opponents in 2016, including preseason top 25 teams No. 8 North Carolina, No. 10 Georgetown, and No. 21 Coastal Carolina. The Tribe will also head to No. 17 Virginia later in the season.
Familiar Faces
The Tribe returns nine of its 11 starts from last season and also returns 20 players from the team. Of those returners four them scored double-figure points for the Tribe including
William Eskay,
Ryder Bell,
Marcel Berry, and
Antonio Bustamante. That quartet are also returning All-CAA players.
New Kids on the Block
The Green and Gold has five true freshman on the roster in
Ricardo Acosta,
Julian Ngoh,
Daniel McBride,
Tanner Shane, and
Reeves Trott. Along with the freshman, W&M welcomes transfers redshirt junior
Phil Breno (UMBC) and redshirt freshman
Hristo Bustamante (George Mason).
