WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's soccer team opens postseason play as they travel to Elon for a Colonial Athletic Association Quarterfinal match on Saturday, Nov. 5. Kickoff between the Tribe and Phoenix is set for 7 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
Chris Norris to discuss the team's win over Drexel, returning to CAA Tournament play, and upcoming match with Elon. The video feature is available through the above link, or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
No. 5-seeded William & Mary men's soccer team (10-6-2, 3-3-2 CAA) returns to postseason play for the first time in two seasons as they travel to Elon for the CAA Quarterfinals on Saturday night. The Tribe is looking to move its winning streak to four games after posting wins over Charleston (3-2), VCU (4-0), and Drexel (1-0). Sophomore
Ryder Bell leads the team with nine goals, four assists, and 22 points. Classmate
Antonio Bustamante is just off of the pace with eight goals, four assists, and 20 points, while junior
William Eskay is third on the team with four goals, six assists, and 14 points. Senior
Reilly Maw (four goals, four assists) and freshman
Reeves Trott (five goals, two assists) each have 12 points, rounding out the double-figure scorers. Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Phil Breno has started 17 of the 18 matches while redshirt senior
Mac Phillips has appeared in two matches with a start. Breno owns a 1.17 goals-against average, with 52 saves, and six shutouts. Phillips has a 0.79 goals-against-average, with four saves, and a shutout.
Scouting the Phoenix
Elon earned the No. 4 seed after posting a 7-5-4 overall record and a 3-2-3 league record, finishing with 12 points. The Phoenix will look to snap a four game winless streak when they host W&M Saturday. Elijah Agu leads the attack with 11 goals, one assist, and 23 points. Jaiden Fortune is second on the team with three goals, three assists, and nine points, while Nick Adamczyk is third with one goal, five assists, and seven points. Matthew Jegier has started all 16 matches, while Jimmy Coyle has appeared in relief in one match. Jegier has posted a 0.82 goals-against-average, 41 saves, and seven shutouts.
Series History vs. Elon
W&M and Elon meet for the eighth time in program history and the second time this season on Saturday night. The Tribe leads the all-time series 4-2-1, but the Phoenix picked up a 2-0 victory in the regular season. Elijah Agu scored both of Elon's goals in the victory, while Matthew Jegier made two saves in the shutouts.
The Road Ahead
The winner of tonight's match will advance to the CAA Semifinals next weekend. Top-seeded and host Hofstra awaits the winner of the match on Friday, Nov. 11. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Scoring in Bunches
The Green and Gold led the CAA and ranked 12th 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.
Shutout Streak
W&M goalkeepers redshirt junior
Phil Breno and redshirt senior
Mac Phillips, and the Tribe defense have combined to shutout the last two opponents of the regular season. The Green and Gold hasn't allowed a goal has not allowed goal in the last 193 minutes of play. As a team, the Tribe has combined for seven shutout this seasons.
Going with Ngoh
Freshman
Julian Ngoh has seen an increased work rate of late appearing in each of the last six matches and earning the starting nod against Michigan and No. 16 Virginia. On Wednesday, the rookie netted his first career goal in the 88th minute in a 4-0 victory over VCU.
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 leads 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. 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 tied for fourth on the team with four goals, four assists, and 12 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.
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 10 of its 17 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 plays against the ACC (0-2) and Atlantic 10 (1-1) twice, and have 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.
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).
