WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary men's soccer team hosts Loyola (Md.) on Friday night in a match-up of preseason conference favorites at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field. The Greyhounds, which are the favorite in the Patriot League, enter the tilt ranked No. 1 in the Northeast Region, while the Tribe was the CAA favorite and is coming off a win over N.C. State on Monday night.
 
Live video for the contest will be available on Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet. Fans can also follow live stats for the contest at TribeAthletics.com. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach Chris Norris to discuss the Tribe's opening week and the match with Loyola. The video feature is available through the above link, or by clicking HERE.
 

Scouting the Tribe
W&M split its opening two games against major conference opponents. After falling on a penalty kick at Michigan, 1-0, the Tribe bounced back with an overtime victory over N.C. State thanks to a goal from sophomore Julian Ngoh in the 93rd minute. Junior Remi Frost collected a Wolfpack clearance and perfectly placed a cross to the head of Ngoh, who scored his first career game-winner. Junior Ryder Bell and sophomore Reeves Trott scored the other two goals in the Green and Gold's 3-2 win over N.C. State. In total, seven different Tribe players tallied a goal or an assist in the win. W&M was named the favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association by vote of the league coaches, garnering five of the nine first-place votes. W&M placed five players on the preseason all-conference team led by junior Antonio Bustamante, who was the preseason player of the year. Juniors Marcel Berry and Ryder Bell garnered preseason All-CAA honors, while senior William Eskay and sophomore Tanner Shane were named honorable mention.
 
Scouting Loyola
Loyola, which was the preseason favorite to win the Patriot League, enters the week at 2-0 on the year and is the top-ranked team in the Northeast Region by the United Soccer Coaches. The Greyhounds are also ranked just outside of the top 25, receiving 26 votes in the USC National Rankings. Loyola picked up its first season-opening win since 2011, downing La Salle, 5-4, in double overtime. Most recently, the Greyhounds posted a 1-0 win over St. John's in the team's home opener to start 2-0 for the first time since 2008. Following the win over La Salle, Josh Fawole was named the Corvias Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week and honorable mention Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week honors, while Gabriel Carlsson was named the Patriot League Midfielder of the Week and freshman Sam Brown garnered the league's rookie of the week distinction. Six different Loyola players have scored goals in the first two contests of the season. Fawole, Brown and Sam Carter each have a goal and an assist on the year, while Carlsson leads the team with three assists.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Loyola
The Tribe leads the all-time series with the Greyhounds at 15-9-4 and are unbeaten (6-0-2) in the last eight meetings dating back to 1999. W&M holds a 9-3-2 advantage in Williamsburg, including a 1-0 victory in the last meeting during the 2011 campaign. The Green and Gold, which has won three straight against Loyola, has outscored the Greyhounds, 38-28, in the 28 all-time meetings.
 
Overtime Win
The Tribe's overtime victory over N.C. State on Monday marked the programs first extra time victory since Sept. 22, 2015 when it knocked off Navy, 3-2, in Annapolis, Md. Sophomore Julian Ngoh scored the game-winner against the Wolfpack came just 2:12 into the overtime period. It was the fastest overtime goal for the Tribe since Price Thomas tallied the game-winner at George Mason just 29 seconds into the extra period in 2008.
 
A Factor of 7
Seven different Tribe players factored into its three goals in the overtime win over N.C. State. Junior Ryder Bell along with sophomores Reeves Trott and Julian Ngoh tallied goals, while seniors William Eskay and Riley Spain as well as juniors Remi Frost and Marcel Berry posted assists. By comparison, 14 different Tribe players tallied at latest an assist last season. Monday night's game against N.C. State marked the second time in as many seasons that seven different players tallied at least an assist in a game as the Tribe accomplished the feat in its 7-1 win over Northeastern at home last season.  Prior to that contest, seven different W&M players had not recorded at least a point in the same game since Sept. 26, 2009 when the Tribe bounced Towson, 4-1. The last time more than seven Tribe players factored into Tribe goals in a game was when nine did it in a 7-0 win over Richmond on Sept. 23, 2009.
 
Facing the ACC
The Tribe faces a trio of ACC opponents during the 2017 campaign with the first coming against the Wolfpack on Monday. Along with its win over N.C. State, the Green and Gold face North Carolina (Sept. 13) in Cary, N.C., and host Virginia Tech (Oct. 18). It marks the third time in the last five years that W&M plays three ACC teams in a season, and it's the fifth consecutive season that the Tribe has faced multiple ACC opponents. The Green and Gold's overtime win over N.C. State marked the program's fifth against the ACC in the last eight years. In total, the Tribe faces four teams from Power 5 conferences in 2017, including its season opener at Michigan. The four major conference foes are the most on the Green and Gold slate since 2007. During head coach Chris Norris' tenure, the Tribe owns eight wins and four ties against Power 5 Conference opponents.

CAA Favorite
W&M was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association by vote of the league's nine head coaches. The Tribe received five first-place votes and totaled 61 points to outdistanced second-place Hofstra, which tallied three first-place votes and 52 points. The Pride was the 2016 regular season CAA Champion, before falling to the Tribe, 3-1, in the CAA Semifinals. UNCW, which received the other first-place vote, was third in the standings followed by Elon and reigning Champion Delaware. Charleston and JMU tied for sixth in the poll, while Northeastern and Drexel rounded out the standings.
 
Preseason Hype for Bustamante
After a stellar sophomore campaign, junior Antonio Bustamante was well recognized during the preseason. The United Soccer Coaches (USC) named him to the Watch List for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, which is college soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy. He is the second Tribe player and first since Nat Baako in 2010 to be named to the national player of the year watch list. The CAA head coaches voted Bustamante as the league's preseason player of the year after he ranked second in the CAA with 24 points and third with 10 goals in 2016. Most recently, Bustamante garnered preseason All-America honors by the College Soccer News and was selected to Top Drawer Soccer's Top 100 Players to Watch list. He was second team All-America selection and ranked No. 50 on the Top 100 list. Bustamante was a First Team All-CAA and All-Midwest Region selection last season and has 15 goals over his Tribe career.

Up Next
The Tribe returns to action when it opens a three-match road swing, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5, at George Washington. The match carries a 2 p.m. start from Washington, D.C.