WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's soccer team opens the 2016 regular schedule with a pair of home matches this weekend. The Tribe welcomes defending Atlantic 10 regular season champion George Washington on Friday, Aug. 26, before hosting No. 18 Coastal Carolina on Monday, Aug. 29. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. kickoffs. On Friday night the first 150 students will also receive a free Tribe men's soccer schedule T-shirt.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
Chris Norris to discuss the beginning of a new season, preseason all-conference awards and the two matches. The video preview is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
William & Mary opens its regular season with a pair of home games over a three day stretch. The Tribe welcomes George Washington and Coastal Carolina to Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field to open 2016. The Green and Gold earned a pair of draws in its preseason games, but did have five goals from five different players in the contests. W&M was selected to finish fifth in the always-competitive CAA, while four players were selected to the Preseason All-CAA teams. Junior
William Eskay was joined by sophomores
Ryder Bell,
Marcel Berry, and
Antonio Bustamante in players that earned All-CAA preseason honors. All four of those players finished the season with double-digit points last year. One of the most highly competitive battles in the preseason was for the starting spot in goal. With three players who played last season in redshirt senior
Mac Phillips and redshirt sophomores
Logan Jones and
Sam Onyeador. Transfer redshirt junior
Phil Breno and true freshman
Daniel McBride have also entered the race for the starting nod.
Scouting the Colonials
George Washington is the defending Atlantic 10 regular season champions and open their season in Williamsburg Friday night. The Colonials went unbeaten in a pair of preseason of matches with a 2-2 tie against James Madison and a 2-0 win at Mary Washington. Garrett Heine and Tobi Adewole were named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 team, while the team was selected to finish tied for fifth. Heine led the Colonials in points last season with nine goals, four assists, and 22 points. The Colonials also return one of their two goalies that played last season. Thor Arne Hofs appeared in seven matches (all starts) with a 1.71 goals-against-average, 29 saves, and two wins.
Scouting the Chanticleers
Coastal Carolina enters the season ranked No. 21 in the NSCAA Preseason Poll, following a season in which they advanced to the Second Round of the College Cup. The Chanticleers open their regular season on Friday night up the road in Charlottesville against No. 17 Virginia after winning a pair of games in their preseason. In their first season in the Sun Belt, Coastal was selected to win the league in the preseason poll. Frantzdy Pierrot was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year after transferring in from Northeastern. Jair Espinoza is Coastal's leading scorer from a season ago. He scored three goals, had one assist, and seven points. The Chants will have to replace their goalkeeper Alexandre Bouillennec, Braulio Linares-Ortiz, and Connor Power.
Series History vs. George Washington
W&M and George Washington meet for the 17th time in the season opener on Friday night in Williamsburg. The Tribe leads the all-time series by a 7-5-4 mark. However, the last meeting the series came on Sept. 13, 1998.
Series History vs. Coastal Carolina
The Tribe will meet Coastal Carolina on Monday for the fifth time in series history. The series is deadlocked at 2-2, but the Chanticleers picked up a 2-0 victory last season in Conway, S.C. Coastal scored a pair of goals in the second half for the win. William and
Jackson Eskay led the Tribe with two shots apiece.
What's Ahead
William & Mary continues the season as it travels to Liberty for a match on Friday, Sept. 2. The Tribe then returns to Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field as they open a stretch of three-straight Tuesday home games against Longwood. Both matches are set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Season Openers
The men's soccer team is looking to snap a three-game losing streak on opening day, and pick up its first win since the 2011 season. That year the Tribe topped SMU 3-2 on the road. W&M also drew its season opener in 2012 when they tied Butler 0-0 in the VCU Tournament.
Home Openers
W&M's home opener coincides with its season opener for the third time in the last four seasons. In the previous two games the Tribe suffered setbacks, but W&M picked up a 4-2 victory over Liberty last season in its home opener.
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).
