WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's soccer returns home as it opens a two-match homestand with a pair of Colonial Athletic Association matches. The Tribe welcomes James Madison on Wednesday, Sept. 28. Kickoff for the match is set for 7 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
Chris Norris to discuss the tie at UNCW,
Phil Breno in goal, and the upcoming match against James Madison. The video feature is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
William & Mary returns home for a pair of matches as they open their CAA home slate against James Madison on Wednesday afternoon. The Tribe is looking to get its last three tries, but they earned valuable point in the standings with a 1-1 tie at UNCW on Saturday night. Junior
William Eskay and freshman
Reeves Trott lead the Tribe offense with 10 points on four goals and two assists apiece. Sophomore
Ryder Bell is third on the team with three goals, two assists, and eight points. Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Phil Breno has played every minute in goal so far this season. He owns a 1.16 goals-against average, with 32 saves, and three shutouts.
Scouting the Dukes
James Madison is looking for its first victory of the season as they head to Williamsburg with a 0-7-2, 0-0-1 mark. The Dukes picked up a 0-0 tie in their CAA opener on Saturday night. Connor Coward leads the Dukes offense with one goal, an assist, and three points. Five different players have combined to score all five of the goals. Kyle Morton has started and played every match for the Dukes. He has posted a 1.68 goals-against-average, 34 saves, and a shutout.
Series History vs. James Madison
The Tribe welcomes James Madison for the 52nd time in program history, which is the most played series in W&M soccer history. The Dukes hold a 24-19-8 record over W&M, including winning the last two matches in Harrisonburg. Last season, JMU scored two second half goals to win 3-1. The Tribe took an early lead on a goal by sophomore
Ryder Bell.
The Road Ahead
W&M closes out its two-game homestand as they host Northeastern for a match on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Martin Family Stadium. The match will also be the celebration of Crapolfest VIII, which includes the annual 5K and mini golf outing. More information on the event can be found at AndyCrapol.com. Kickoff for the match is set for 7 p.m.
Working Overtime
Both of the 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.
Weekly Awards
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.
Off on the Right Foot
The Tribe has taken the first lead in five of its seven 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).
