The William & Mary field hockey team battled hard against No. 17 Wake Forest on Sunday, before ultimately coming up just shy in a 3-1 loss.  The Tribe moved to 6-8 overall, while the Demon Deacons improved to 7-6 on the year.

The day began with Senior Day festivities, and the Tribe underclassmen honored their teammates with terrific play.  Twice in the first nine minutes, Wake earned penalty corners, and both times, the visitors were denied.  Freshman Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) made the first save on the first corner, and junior Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) followed with a defensive save to end the threat.  The second corner saw Menges come up big again, swatting the ball out of the air to preserve the clean sheet and take over the CAA lead with four defensive saves on the season, a total that ranks her in the top-10 nationally.

A third Wake Forest corner in the 21st minute was again denied by Connor, setting up the Green and Gold to make the first strike.  In the 25th minute, freshman Woodard Hooper (Reston, Va.) stole the ball from a defender up near midfield, and used her speed and length to outstrip the pursuit on a 2v1 alongside junior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.).  With the threat of Lloyd forcing the goalkeeper to remain close to her line, Hooper had free space to wind up and strike a powerful shot through to the back of the boards, and her first career goal.  The Tribe nearly added a second just three minutes later after earning its first penalty corner, but the shot by Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW) was denied by the goalkeeper.  On the counter, the Demon Deacons finally broke through to tie the match 1-1, and went on to add two more in the 48th and 65th minutes for the win.

For the match, W&M faced an 18-7 disadvantage in shots, and 7-4 deficit in corners although the second half was an even 3-3.  Connor made eight saves in goal, raising her save percentage to .682 with 73 total stops on the year.

William & Mary's home schedule is now complete, but four matches remain in the regular season.  The Tribe heads to Harrisonburg, Va., next for a 6 p.m. match-up with Colonial Athletic Association rival James Madison on Friday, Oct. 21.  The winner will take over second place in the league table, and clinch a spot in the CAA Tournament.