Scouting the Tribe
The Tribe enters its midweek tilt with Coastal Carolina riding a four-match winning streak and is unbeaten in its last five contests (4-0-1). W&M picked up its second win of the year against the ACC with an impressive 4-1 win over Virginia Tech on Wednesday night. Junior
Ryder Bell, who was named the CAA Player of the Week on Monday, led the charge with two goals and two assists, while classmate
Antonio Bustamante and sophomore
Hristo Bustamante picked up a goal and an assist each. On the strength of its recent strong play and results in the CAA, the Tribe, which in 3-2-2 in conference action, has clinched a spot in the league championship. Seeding for the event will be determined with the final regular season conference matches on Saturday, Oct. 28. The Tribe has three players ranked among the top 10 in the CAA in points, goals and assists. Bustamante (first with seven), Bell (fifth with five) and sophomore
Reeves Trott (sixth with four) rank among the top 10 in goals, while Bustamante (first with 19), Bell (second with 17) and senior
William Eskay (seventh with 10) rank in the top 10 in points. Bell (first with seven), Bustamante (second with five) and Eskay (eighth with four) are among the top 10 in assists. Senior goalkeeper
Phil Breno has played every minute in goal for the Green and Gold and ranks 25th nationally with six shutouts. He sports a goals against average of 1.03 to go 37 saves.
Scouting Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers, who moved into the Top Drawer Soccer National Top 25 on Monday, have won three straight to improve to 7-6 on the year and are coming off back-to-back nationally-ranked wins. In its lone game last week, Coastal Carolina upset No. 2-ranked Maryland, 1-0, in College Park. Frantzdy Pierrot scored the game-winner from Ryan Willoughby in the 38th minute against the Terps, while Braulio Linares-Ortiz tallied his third shutout of the season, making three saves in net. In total, CCU owns three nationally-ranked wins, including a 5-2 triumph over No. 18 ODU on Oct. 14. Martin Melchor led the way with hat trick vs. the Monarchs. Coastal is 1-1 against the CAA this season at home, posting a 2-1 victory over Charleston to go with a 3-1 setback to UNCW. Pierrot and Melchor lead the team with four goals and nine points apiece. Romario Piggott (three goals) and Morten Timm (two goals, two assists) each have six points each. Timm and Miguel Gutierrez are tied for the team lead with two assists each. Linares-Ortiz has appeared in all 13 matches, making 11 starts, in goal. He has a 1.29 goals against average to go with 46 saves and three shutouts.
Series History: W&M vs. Coastal Carolina
- The Tribe leads the all-time series at 3-2 vs. Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers have outscored the Green and Gold, 9-8, in the previous five meetings.
- W&M won the last meeting between the teams, 2-1, in Williamsburg in 2016.
Ryder Bell scored off a pass from
Marcel Berry in the eighth minute, while
Reeves Trott scored the game-winner from
Riley Spain in the 65th minute.
- Coastal Carolina won the only meeting in Conway, S.C., 2-0, during the 2015 season.
Bell Named the CAA Player of the Week
- Junior
Ryder Bell was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday.
- Bell tallied a career-high six points, tied for the game in the CAA this season, on two goals and two assists to lead the Tribe to a 4-1 win Virginia Tech on Oct. 18. It was the program's second win against an ACC opponent this season.
- Bell scored the Tribe's first two goals against the Hokies, including the game-winner. After giving W&M a 1-0 lead at the half with a 28th minute goal, he tallied the game-winner just 21 seconds after Virginia Tech had pulled even in the second half with marker in the 50th minute. It marked the third time in Bell's career that he tallied two goals in a game.
- He added assists on the Tribe's insurance goals in the 77th and 90th minutes. It marked the third time in Bell's career that he recorded two assists in a game.
- Bell joins classmate
Antonio Bustamante in earning CAA Player of the Week honors this season. Bustamante was recognized on Sept. 18 and Oct. 9.
- Bell's award also marks the third-straight week a Tribe athlete has been honored. After Bustamante was named the player of the week on Oct. 9, freshman
Sam Golan was named the league's rookie of the week for the second time last week.
- With his two goals, Bell surpassed the 20-goal mark for his career and now has 21 in his first three seasons with the Green and Gold. He leads the CAA in assists (7), while ranking second in points (17) and game-winning goals (2). Bell is fifth in the CAA in goals with five. He is 30th nationally in assists per game.
Defense Wins
- During the Tribe's recent five-match unbeaten streak, the defense has been a key factor. Over the last five games, the Tribe has allowed just three goals and posted a 0.57 goals against average.
- The Green and Gold registered back-to-back shutouts in wins over Elon, 1-0, on Oct. 11 and Hofstra, 2-0, on Oct. 14. W&M limited the Phoenix to zero shots on goal and Hofstra to just three.
- W&M ranks second in the CAA in shutouts overall with six, trailing only the eight of Elon. The Tribe ranks 44th nationally in shutout percentage (0.40).
CAA Leaders
- In league play, the Tribe leads the CAA in goals (12), assists (13) and points (37).
- Overall, W&M currently ranks either first or second in every offensive category in the CAA. The Green and Gold lead the league in assists (1.80), corner kicks (5.73), and shots (14.53) per game to go along with total assists (27). The Tribe is second in the league in scoring offense (1.73), total points (79) and total goals (26).
- Nationally, W&M is 19th in total assists, 22nd in assists per game, 27th in shots per game, 33rd in total goals, 34th in total points, 36th corner kicks per game and 46th in points per game.
Fantastic Four
- The quartet of senior
William Eskay, juniors
Antonio Bustamante and
Ryder Bell and sophomore
Reeves Trott have combined for 58 points on 19 goals and 17 assists. They represent 73.4 percent of the team's points, 73.1 percent of its goals and 63 percent of its assists.
- All four players rank among the top 10 in the CAA in either points and goals. Bustamante leads the CAA in goals (7) and points (19), while Bell is the league leader in assists (7).
- Bustamante is second in the league in assist (5), while Eskay is eighth with four. Bell is second in the league in goals (5) followed by Trott in sixth with four. Bell is second (15) and Eskay is seventh (10) in points.
- Both Trott and Bustamante have scored three goals in CAA play.
Bustamante League Leader
- Junior
Antonio Bustamante currently leads the CAA in points (19) and goals (7), while ranking second in assists (5).
- He has scored goals in seven of the last 10 matches. He has tallied a point in eight of the Green and Gold's last 12 contests dating back to Sept. 5 at George Washington. He is averaging 1.58 points per game over those 12 matches.
- Bustamante has twice been named the CAA Player of the Week on Sept. 18 and Oct. 9. He factored in all four Tribe goals in the road win at Northeastern with a goal and three assists for his second award after scoring against both Campbell and North Carolina to earn the first one.
- Bustamante was the first CAA athlete to earn multiple player of the week awards this season. He was also named to the honorable mention list on the
Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week on Oct. 10.
- In the preseason, he was one of 31 players nationally to be named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List. Bustamante was also the preseason CAA Player of the Year.
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up the regular season with its final CAA tilt against the College of Charleston on Saturday, Oct. 28. The match between the two hottest teams in the league is set for 7 p.m. Charleston is currently unbeaten in its last seven matches (5-0-2), while the Tribe is unbeaten in its last five (4-0-1) entering the week. Live stats and video links are available on the men's soccer schedule page at TribeAthletics.com.
