The No. 18-ranked William & Mary field hockey team got back in the win column Sunday, shutting out Drexel on the road, 2-0. With the victory, the Tribe improved to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while Drexel fell to 6-11 and 1-3 in league play. The win also clinched a top-3 finish in the CAA standings, a spot in the 2017 CAA Tournament.
W&M took control of the game early, taking the first five shots, but Drexel held strong and eventually began battling back downfield to take their chances at goal. Sophomore goalkeeper
Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) and her defensive line stood tall, with Connor making both of her saves in the first half and keeping the Dragons off the board long enough for the Tribe offense to begin to exert itself. Late in the 24th minute, senior
Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.) drove towards the near post, and as she dipped deep into the zone, passed back to find classmate
Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) in the center of the area and in front of the Drexel goalkeeper. Lloyd spun with the ball, shielded it from the defense and brought it across her body to flick a reverse shot into the open goalmouth for the 1-0 lead. That's how it would stand for the rest of the half.
The second half opened in similar fashion for W&M, but the Tribe was able to capitalize much quicker for the 2-0 advantage in the 42nd minute. The score came out of a penalty corner, with MacLeod starting and finishing the sequence with a tip past the goalkeeper of
Christie van de Kamp's (Midlothian, Va.) shot from up top. The Tribe had four more shots and another penalty corner in the final 28 minutes, against one more shot for the Dragons, but both defenses kept the score set until the final horn.
Starters
W&M:
Morgan Connor (GK),
Erin Menges,
Annie Snead,
Cata Days,
Christie van de Kamp,
Estelle Hughes,
Bailey McCarthy,
Booter Ellis,
Cassidy Goodwin,
Cammie Lloyd,
Emma MacLeod
Drexel: Erin Gilchrist (GK), Tess Horan, Amy Ferguson, Delaney Baxendale, Katie Bagdon, Maria Palmieri, Isis Cornelissen, Katie Pappas, Tess Bernheimer, Megan Wiest, Chandler McFeeley
Inside the Numbers
- W&M held a 22-6 shot advantage, including 9-1 in the second half.
- Corners also went strongly for the Tribe, 7-3, including 3-0 in the second half.
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Morgan Connor made two saves to pick up her third shutout of the season, while Drexel goalkeeper Erin Gilchrist made 13 saves in the game.
Notes
With one game left in the regular season, the Tribe can finish no worse than third in the CAA standings ... W&M could also finish either first (with some help) or second in the league ... Both Lloyd and MacLeod scored their 10th goals of the season ... This is the first time since 2003 that the Tribe has had multiple 10+ goal scorers in the same season ... van de Kamp's assist made her the sixth player to reach 10 points this season, the most in a single year since 2000 ... If MacLeod can score at least one more goal this season, she and Lloyd will be the first teammates since
Ginny Ramsey '78 and
Barb Logan '78 in 1976 and 1977 to both play with 30+ career goals ... Connor's 12th win of the season is the most in a single year for W&M since
Claire Miller '03 also won 12 in her All-American campaign of 2002 ... Her next win would make her the winning goalkeeper since Miller won 14 in 2001 ... In the team records, W&M's 12 wins are the most since winning 13 in 2004 ... Lloyd's goal was her sixth career game-winner, moving her up to a tie for eighth all-time at W&M.
