WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's soccer team opens a two-match road trip as they travel to first place Hofstra on Saturday Oct. 8. Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
Chris Norris to discuss the win over Northeastern,
Antonio Bustamante winning CAA Player of the week, and the upcoming match at Hofstra. The video feature is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
William & Mary opens a two-match road trip as they travel to Hofstra on Saturday night. The Tribe is looking move its unbeaten four matches as they head to first place Hofstra. Sophomores
Ryder Bell and
Antonio Bustamante leads the team with five goals, three assists, and 13 points. Junior
William Eskay is second on the team with four goals, four assists, and 12 points, while 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 0.99 goals-against average, with 38 saves, and four shutouts.
Scouting the Pride
The preseason league favorite, Hofstra enters Saturday's match looking to get back in the win column following a 1-0 loss at Virginia Tuesday night. However, the Pride is a perfect 4-0 in league action topping James Madison (W, 2-0), College of Charleston (W, 4-0), Northeastern (W, 3-0), and Delaware (2-1). Danny Elliott (five goals) and Luke Brown (four goals, two assists) lead he Pride with 10 points. Preseason Player of the Year Joseph Holland is third on the team with two goals, four assists, and eight points. Alex Ashton (seven appearances, four starts), Brian Rubinaccio (one match), Leonard Arkhankelskyi (eight appearances, seven starts). Ashton has a 1.49 goals-against-average and 13 saves. Arkhanhelskyi has a 0.69 goals-against-average, 11 saves, and two shutouts.
Series History vs. Hofstra
W&M and Hofstra meet for the 19th time in program history on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe leads the all-time series 9-6-3, but the Pride won the meeting 1-0 in overtime in Williamsburg last year. The match was played at Wanner Stadium because of Hurricane Joaquin.
The Road Ahead
The Tribe concludes its two-match road trip as it travels to Elon on Wednesday, Oct. 12. W&M then returns home for four of its final matches starting on Saturday, Oct. 15 when they host Michigan for Homecoming. Kickoffs for both matches are 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.
Breno the Backstop
Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Phil Breno recorded his fourth shutout of the season for the Tribe on Wednesday night against James Madison. He has been exceptionally good in CAA play, only allowing three goals in 367 minutes of play. He owns a 0.74 goals-against-average, 21 saves, and a shutout during league action.
Working Overtime
Two of the three Tribe's CAA matches this season have gone to double overtime, and both have made it the full 110 minutes. The Tribe holds a 0-1-1 record in its two overtime matches this season.
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 six of its 10 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).
