The William & Mary field hockey team picked up a big road win in conference play on Sunday, beating Northeastern 3-1 to stay in contention in the Colonial Athletic Association race.  The Tribe improved to 5-6 overall and 2-1 in league action, while the Huskies fell to 6-7 on the year, and 0-3 in CAA play.

In what has become a hallmark of the Tribe style of play the last several weeks, W&M pressed the attack from the opening whistle and got on the board early.  Junior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) drove towards the net just 90 seconds in, and as the defense collapsed to her, whipped a pass across the goal mouth to find senior Olivia Hajek (Charlottesville, Va.) at the far post.  It was Hajek's second goal of the year, and her fourth career game-winner, best on the team.  The onslaught continued in the first half, with the Tribe out-shooting Northeastern 6-4, and paid off again in the 21st minute.  This time, it was Lloyd working alone to score her team-best 10th goal of the season, taking the rebound after a shot by classmate Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) was saved by the Northeastern goalkeeper, and spinning around a defender to create space for a difficult reverse-stick shot.

W&M kept the pressure up on both ends of the field in the second half, again leading the shot count 6-4, and taking a pair of penalty corners to the Huskies' one.  It was after one of those corners that the Green and Gold scored to take a 3-0 lead in the 57th minute.  Freshman Cata Days (Buenos Aires, Argentina) took the initial shot, but it was blocked away by a defender.  The rebound fell to the stick of junior Booter Ellis (Delmar, Del.), who dribbled clear of the defense and then rocketed a shot into the boards for her second goal of the year.  The Huskies would eventually get one goal back, in the 60th minute, to avoid the shutout, but the Tribe defense led by freshman Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) otherwise held firm and preserved the 3-1 victory.  For the game, Connor totaled three saves in goal.

William & Mary returns home for three matches this week, the final three home appearances of the season.  The stretch begins on Tuesday night, Oct. 11, at 5 p.m., as the Tribe hosts No. 10 Virginia.