The William & Mary field hockey team found itself in a titanic struggle Friday night against No. 17 James Madison, one that even split the heavens asunder and unleashed a pounding rainstorm.  The normal bounds of regulation were not enough to decide a winner in the match, which went into 7v7 overtime before the Tribe found the back of the goal in the 72nd minute to claim the 4-3 upset victory.  With the win, W&M improved to 7-8 overall and 4-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Dukes fell to 11-4 on the year and 3-2 in the league.

Taking advantage of their home field, the Dukes found themselves quickly ahead 2-0 by the 17th minute.  In the 28th minute, JMU gained another penalty corner opportunity, its third of the half, but sophomore Caroline Arrowood (Chesapeake, Va.) was there to make second defensive save of the year, and keep the Dukes out of goal for the third time.  Finally, early in the 31st minute, the Tribe got on the board.  Following a penalty corner, senior captain Maddy Moore (Norfolk, Va.) took a shot that was saved, but the rebound fell into a scrum in the middle and junior Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW) got her stick to it and scored to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.

There it would stay through half-time, but barely beyond.  Just 46 seconds into the second half, W&M earned a penalty corner, and junior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) stepped up to take the shot from the top of the circle.  As one fo the top scorers in the league, she commanded much of the defense's attention, allowing classmate Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.) to slip in behind and redirect her shot past the goalkeeper and into the cage, tying the match 2-2.  Just 23 seconds later, Lloyd and MacLeod hooked up again at full speed, and MacLeod scored her fifth goal in the last four matches to put the Tribe in front, 3-2.

The Dukes showed a comeback of their own in the 42nd minute, earning a corner and scoring off a deflection much the same way the Tribe had, tying the match 3-3.  There it remained for the final 28 minutes of action, withstanding seven shots in the interim, sending the two rivals into overtime.  The Green and Gold commanded play in the 7v7 period, shooting three times to none, with all three shots coming from Lloyd.  After her first went wide and her second was saved, Lloyd finally broke through just 1:52 into overtime, taking the pass from Hughes and redirecting it into the goal for the win.

For the match, James Madison held a 12-11 advantage in shots and 6-4 edge in penalty corners.  However, freshman Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) stood tall with three saves to preserve the win.  The victory guaranteed W&M to finish no worse than second in the CAA standings, its best finish since winning the regular season title in 2004.  The Tribe also clinched a spot in the CAA Tournament, where it could be seeded in any of the first three spots based on the league results over the final two weeks of the season.

William & Mary is back in action on Sunday, traveling to Richmond, Va., to take on VCU at 1 p.m.