The William & Mary field hockey team put on an offensive show of historic proportions on Friday night, cruising past Towson, 8-1.  The Tribe improved to 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association with the win, while the Tigers fell to 2-8 overall, and 0-1 in league play.

W&M came close to a number of all-time marks with the win, including total points with 22.  That is the second-most ever in a single game, behind only the 23 points (9g, 5a) scored against Lehigh in 1990.  The Tribe's eight goals is tied for the third-most all-time, behind that Lehigh game and against ODU in 1974, and the most since also scoring eight against Appalachian State two years ago.  The six assists W&M scored were tied for the second-most ever, behind only nine against Ursinus in 1994, and the most since the 2012 season opener against Davidson (also six).  Finally, W&M's 45 shots against the Tigers are sixth-most all-time, and the most since 1992, when W&M took 54 shots against Georgetown.  Every other entry in the all-time top-five came in 1988 or earlier.

The scoring started early on the night, very early in fact just 23 seconds in.  Junior Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW) drove into the teeth of the defense and arced a high shot into the upper right 90 as she was falling over, scoring her second goal of the season.  Since the 2000 season, that was the second-fastest goal ever scored in a Tribe game by just two seconds, trailing only the 21 seconds it took now-senior Maria Jose Pastor (Burke, Va.) to score against Temple as a sophomore in 2014.  The next fastest goal was back at 40 seconds, Mikala Savaides '11 against Hofstra in 2008.

With the early tally out of the way, the Tribe's second goal again came from the stick of Hughes, in the 10th minute.  Junior Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) started her night with a pass from deep up-field and well out of the scoring circle, that found the Aussie in the middle of the zone.  Hughes tipped it past the charging goalkeeper, and put her team up 2-0.  Towson answered in the next minute with a goal of their own, but the Green and Gold turned up the pressure in response and held the Tigers without a shot for the final 57:18.

In the absense of Towson offense, W&M more than made up for their absence.  In the 20th minute, Menges scored her first goal of the year, taking a pass from freshman Annie Snead (Midlothian, Va.) at the left elbow of the scoring area, and blasting it high past the goalkeeper's shoulder into the net.  That gave the Tribe a 3-1 advantage heading into the intermission.  Coming out of halftime, Menges got right back to work.  Sophomore Jenny McCann (Annandale, Va.) lofted a pass across the goal to the far post, and Menges one-timed it out of the air and in to set her career-high for points in a game, with five.

In the 41st minute, junior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) blasted a powerful shot straight in from the top of the circle, looking for her seventh goal of the season.  Towson was able to save it, but the rebound fell to senior Amanda McAteer (King of Prussia, Pa.), who had a wide-open net in front of her and space clear to dribble the ball over the line.  It was McAteer's first goal of the season.  Two minutes later, Lloyd finally found pay-dirt.  Junior Booter Ellis (Delmar, Del.) ripped a pass through the zone to the near post, and found Lloyd who reversed her stick to tap it in and chase the Tigers' starting goalkeeper from the game.

That put the Tribe up 6-1, but the scoring was not yet done in the humid night air.  In the 55th minute, the freshman Snead scored on a pass from senior Olivia Hajek (Charlottesville, Va.).  Hajek's entry pass came in from around the restart dashes, and Snead popped the ball up and over the goalkeeper and into the side netting.  Snead provided the finishing touches on the night as well in the 63rd minute.  On a corner, Lloyd took the initial shot from the boundary, and found Snead lurking at the post to redirect the ball into the boards, and set the final margin at 8-1.  For the game, the Tribe out-shot Towson 45-2, including a 25-0 advantage after halftime.  The corners were also lop-sided, 10-0 in favor of the Green and Gold, while Towson held a 22-0 advantage in saves.

William & Mary returns to action on Sunday afternoon, hosting No. 10 Delaware at 1 p.m.