WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's soccer team looks for its eighth Colonial Athletic Association Championship as they square off with No. 2-seeded Delaware on Sunday, Nov. 13 in Hempstead, N.Y. The match will be aired live on the American Sports Network and will kickoff at 2:30 p.m.
Scouting the Tribe
The No. 5-seeded William & Mary men's soccer team (12-6-2, 3-3-2 CAA) continues their quest for the CAA crown as square off with No. 2-seeded Delaware in the CAA Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Tribe is looking to move its winning streak to six games after posting wins over Charleston (3-2), VCU (4-0), Drexel (1-0), Elon (1-0), and Hofstra (3-1). Sophomore
Antonio Bustamante, who is riding a three-game goal streak, leads the attack with 10 goals, four assists and 24 points. Classmate
Ryder Bell is just off of the pace with nine goals, four assists and 22 points. Junior
William Eskay (five goals, seven assists) and senior
Reilly Maw (six goals, five assists) are third on the team 17 points, while freshman
Reeves Trott rounds out the double-digit point scorers with five goals, two assists, and 12 points. Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Phil Breno has started 19 of the 20 matches while redshirt senior
Mac Phillips has appeared in two matches with a start. Breno owns a 1.10 goals-against average, with 58 saves, and seven shutouts. Phillips has a 0.79 goals-against-average, with four saves, and a shutout.
Scouting the Blue Hens
No. 2-seeded Delaware advanced to its third straight CAA Championship match with a 2-1 victory over No. 6-seeded College of Charleston on Friday night. The Blue Hens enter Sunday's contest with an 11-7-1 record overall and finished CAA play with a 5-3 mark. CAA Player of the Year Guillermo Delgado leads the attack with 12 goals, eight assists, and 32 points. Fede Prieto is the only other Blue Hen in double-figure points with seven goals in 14 points. First-Team All-CAA selection Todd Morton has started all 19 matches in goal for UD. He owns a 1.10 goals-against-average, 63 saves, and seven shutouts.
Series History vs. Delaware
W&M and Delaware meet for the 21st time in series history in the CAA Championship on Sunday afternoon. W&M leads the all-time series 13-6-1, however the Blue Hens have won the last four meetings, including a 2-1 victory in double overtime earlier this season. In that contest it took all 110 minutes to beat the Tribe as Jamie Martinez scored in the final seconds. Guillermo Delgado added the Blue Hens other goal, while
Reilly Maw scored for the Tribe. This will be just the second time that the two teams have met in the CAA Tournament with the Tribe picking up a 1-0 double overtime victory in the CAA Semifinals.
The Road Ahead
The winner of the CAA Championship match will receive the league's automatic bid and a berth in the 2016 College Cup. The NCAA men's soccer selection show is set for Monday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.
On a Roll
With a win Sunday, the Tribe would set a season-high six match winning streak. It is the first time since 1996 that the Tribe has put together a pair of win streaks of five games in a season. That year the Tribe had five-game winning streak, before reeling off 12 in a row on its way to a CAA Championship and a a berth in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The current streak equals a five-game winning streak from Aug. 9-Sept. 13, that ended with a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds of double overtime at Delaware. The five-game winning streaks are 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.
Double Digit Goals
With his 13th minute goal in the CAA Semifinal, sophomore
Antonio Bustamante became the first Tribe player since Alan Koger in 2010 to score 10, or more, goals in a single-season. Classmate
Ryder Bell is just off of the pace with nine goals. If the Moreland Hills, Ohio native finds the back of the net it will be the first time since 2000 that a pair of Tribe players have recorded double digit goals. That year Carlos Garcia scored 12 and Phillip Hucles added 14 markers.
Bustamante's Big Time Goals
Sophomore
Antonio Bustamante has sent the Tribe home with a pair of 1-0 victories in his last two matches. His 89th minute tally against Drexel, all but secured a berth in the CAA Tournament, before his 18th minute marker at Elon stood up to send the team to the CAA Semifinals. For the third straight game, the sophomore sprung W&M to a 1-0 lead with a goal in the CAA Semifinals against Hofstra. He leads the team with 10 goals, four assists, and 24 points.
Scoring in Bunches
The Green and Gold leads the CAA and ranks 10th in the NCAA with 2.00 goals per game this season. W&M had eight different players scored goals this season, including seven student-athletes with multiple goal seasons. Furthermore, the team's 40 goals ranks them seventh in the country.
Shutout Streak
W&M saw its shutout streak come to an end at 350 minutes in the CAA Semifinal against Hofstra on Friday night. However the Tribe has conceded just three goals during the current winning streak and only six goals dating back nearly a month to Oct. 15. Individually redshirt junior
Phil Breno has seen his goal-against-average drop to 1.08 and has posted seven of the team's eight shutouts.
Weekly Awards
Senior
Reilly Maw became the Tribe's fourth player to be named to a CAA Weekly award. He was tabbed the player of the week following a goal and an assist in a big conference win over Charleston. Previously, sophomore
Antonio Bustamante was named the CAA Player of the Week for the Week of Oct. 3, while freshman
Reeves Trott earned Rookie of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 5 and 12.
Scorching the Net at Home
The Tribe found the back of the net frequently at Albert-Daly Field this season. The Tribe combined to score 19 goals in the last five games at home, including a season-high seven at home against Northeastern. For the season, the Tribe has registered 26 goals in 11 games, or 2.4 per game.
Ring the Bell
In the Tribe's last five home games, sophomore
Ryder Bell registered six goals. In the 7-1 win over Northeastern, Bell scored in the seventh minute, before adding one in the 46th minute. Against Michigan on Oct. 15 the Moreland Hills, Ohio native scored in the 40th minute and the 86th minute, before adding a goal in the win over the College of Charleston, before adding the Tribe's second goal against VCU. During the stretch he has also been credited with two game-winning goals. He is second on the team with nine goals, four assists, and 22 points.
Maw's Final Act
Senior
Reilly Maw came on strong during the final few regular season games of his senior season. However he may have saved his best for the postseason as he recorded a five-point night in the CAA Semifinals against Hofstra. After assisting on
Antonio Bustamante's 13th minute goal, the senior added two of his own, the game-winner in the 63rd and the insurance goal in the 86th minute. In the win over Michigan, the Yorktown, Va. native registered two assists and a goal in the 4-0 win. He followed that up with an assist, and a game-winning goal in a crucial win over College of Charleston. Maw added an assist in the win over VCU to register eight points in the last five matches. He is now tied for third on the team with six goals, five assists, and 17 points.
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.
Five for Fighting
The Tribe scored five unanswered goals in the second half to take a 5-1 victory at Campbell on September 10th. 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 since Nov. 9, 2000 when 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.
Off on the Right Foot
The Tribe has taken the first lead in 13 of its 20 matches, so far this season. W&M netted its fastest start of the season with a goal 18 seconds into the match against VCU, when senior
Jeff Bombelles redirected a rebound into the back of the net. Earlier in the season W&M got on the board before the 10-minute mark in the first two games. 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 played against the ACC (0-2) and Atlantic 10 (1-1) twice, and had games against the Sun Belt (1-0), Big East (1-0), and Big Ten (1-0). W&M posted a 7-3 record in non-conference play this season.
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.
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 welcomed transfers redshirt junior
Phil Breno (UMBC) and redshirt freshman
Hristo Bustamante (George Mason). Every new comer except one has seen action this season.
