The William & Mary field hockey team finished off its best regular season in more than a decade Sunday, scoring four goals and making 11 saves to power past Hofstra on the road, 4-3.  With the win, the Tribe improved to 9-9 overall and 5-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Pride fell to 9-10 on the year and 1-5 in league play.

The high-powered Hofstra got on the board first in the 15th minute following a penalty corner, but junior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) responded six minutes later to bring the score all level.  Lloyd took a shot that was saved, but was fouled egregiously in the process and a penalty stroke was awarded, the first of the season for W&M.  Lloyd stepped to the spot and converted the opportunity for her 14th goal of the year.

The Tribe stepped up its play on both ends of the field, and came through again just before the half.  Junior Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW) took the ball deep onto the baseline, then crossed a pass over to Lloyd who had an open look as the defense collapsed to Hughes.  Lloyd's 15th goal of the year (36th point) made her the most successful Tribe attacker in a season since Ann Ekberg '03 had an All-American campaign in 2002 with 23 goals and 51 points.

Coming out intermission, Hofstra provided a tying score of its own in the 53rd minute.  Hughes refused to let that stand, however, and put the Tribe ahead for good in the 50th minute.  Junior Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.) that was saved, but Hughes was there for the cleanup.  Five minutes later, she struck again, taking a pass from rookie Cassidy Goodwin (Gloucester, Va.) in the middle of circle and converting the shot for her seventh goal of the season.  Hofstra would continue to attack, getting one goal back in the final minute, but it was not enough as W&M held on for the 4-3 win.

The Tribe defense more than held its own against the CAA's second-ranked offense, making 11 saves to make up for a 24-15 deficit in shots and an 8-3 disadvantage in corner opportunities.  Nine saves came from rookie goalkeeper Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.), who now has 91 saves on the season.  Goodwin made her first career defensive save in the second half to stave off Hofstra's third goal, and junior Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) made her conference-leading fifth defensive save of the season early in the game.  W&M now has 12 defensive saves as a team, the most since the 2005 team made 13 field stops.

The Tribe finished with both its most conference wins (5) and fewest conference losses (1) since 2004, which was also the last time that W&M had been seeded first or second in the CAA Tournament.  The Green and Gold finished the regular season second in the league, and will advance as the No. 2 seed to the conference tournament next weekend at No. 1-seed Delaware.  The Tribe takes on No. 3 James Madison in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m., while the championship game awaits Sunday at 1 p.m.