The No. 18-ranked William & Mary field hockey team, coming off its first top-10 win in five years, gets a chance at two more this weekend.  The Tribe, newly ranked for the first time since 2012, heads to Charlottesville to face No.5 Virginia on Friday night at 5 p.m., before returning home to host No. 10 Boston College Sunday at 2 p.m. at Busch Field.  Live stats for both matches are available through TribeAthletics.com, while the UVA match can also be streamed live through WatchESPN and ACC Network Extra.

Special Events Ahead
The Tribe's home game against La Salle on Sunday, Sept. 24, will be Griffin Kids Club Day.  Families are encouraged to bring their young ones to meet the Griffin and sign up for the Griffin Kids Club, including a monthly newsletter from the Griffin, a membership card, and a prize pack redeemable at any regular season ticketed athletics event.  Also ahead on the calender is the Breast Cancer Awareness game on Sunday, Oct. 8, against Davidson.  Show your support for breast cancer survivors and research by wearing your pink to the game.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M ran its winning streak to five last weekend with a 2-0 record at the Wolverine Classic, upsetting then-No. 7 Michigan 1-0 on Friday night before turning around and downing UC Davis 4-2 on Saturday.  After the weekend of wins and a pair of goals (including the winner against Michigan), Tribe sophomore Woodard Hooper (Reston, Va.) was named CAA Player of the Week, and the Tribe entered the national poll for the first time since midway through the 2012 campaign.  For the season, Hooper and senior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) are tied for the team lead with four goals apiece, while senior Booter Ellis (Delmar, Del.) has four assists.  On defense, sophomore Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) lowered her GAA to 1.50 and upped her save percentage to .743, making 26 stops on the year.

Scouting the Cavaliers
Virginia is also 5-1 on the year, and defeated then-No. 1 Duke last week, 4-1.  Two-time national player of the Year Tara Vittese leads the country with 39 points (16g, 7a), a robust 6.5 point per game average that is more than double the next player, and Pien Dicke also ranks in the top-15 with 15 points (7g, 2a).  On defense, goalkeeper Carrera Lucas has a 1.77 GAA and 27 saves on a .730 save percentage.

Scouting the Eagles
Boston College is again 5-1, and most recently shutout Providence 4-0 while their only loss came to current No. 3 Syracuse.  The Eagles feature a balanced attack with 10 players having scored a goal, led by Jaime Natale and Elizabeth Warner (three each).  On defense, Sarah Dwyer has played every minut in goal with a 1.68 GAA and 15 saves, stopping 57.7% of the shots against her.

The Series
- Virginia is one of W&M's most-played opponents, with the Cavaliers leading the all-time series 29-16-2.  W&M's most recent win came in 2013, when the Tribe beat the No. 5 team in the nation 2-1 on the road.  This will be the ninth time that UVA has been ranked in the top-5 when playing the Tribe.
- Boston College is a much less common foe, with Sunday marking just the sixth time the two have played.  The Eagles lead the series 3-2, and have won the last two meetings in 1997 (4-3) and 2009 (7-2).  The only time the series has been in Williamsburg was 1990, when the Tribe came away with a 3-0 win.

News and Notes
- Woodard Hooper's game-winning goal against Michigan on Sunday tied her for the national lead with three already in the Tribe's five wins.  She's matched by Indiana's Maddie Latino and Rutgers' Daphne Groothuis out of the Big 10, and Leonie Verstraete of Longwood in the MAC.

- W&M's No. 18 ranking this week is the highest for the Tribe since reaching No. 17 midway through the 2006 season.  Since 1993, the highest W&M has been ranked in the coaches poll was ninth, in the second poll of the 2000 season.

- The Tribe has been ranked for 96 games since 1993 coming into this weekend, with a 49-47 (.511) winning percentage in those matches.  The climb is tougher when playing as the underdog, however, with W&M going just 10-27 (.270) in those matches.  Playing against ranked teams, the Tribe is 31-130 all-time, and 9-87 against the top-10 with its best wins both coming against No. 5 Virginia (in 1995 and 2013).

- The Tribe has won five in a row since losing to No. 2 Duke in the season opener, its longest streak since winning six in a row in 2003.  

- Senior captain Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) is tied for fifth nationally with two defensive saves on the year, with both of her stops coming in the season-opener against then-No. 2 Duke.  Since the 2000 season, only All-American Anna Davis '06 has more games with multiple saves (four) than Menges' three.  Menges is now tied for 11th all-time at W&M, with eight defensive saves.

- With both UC Davis and Pacific on the schedule, this the first year since 1985 that W&M will play multiple West Coast teams in the same year.  Back then, it was San Jose State (who no longer has a team) and Stanford who had the honors.  Currently, there are only four West Coast field hockey teams in the NCAA - UC Davis, Pacific, Stanford, and California.

- W&M was picked to finish third in the CAA pre-season poll, behind defending NCAA Champion Delaware and James Madison.  The Tribe lost to Delaware 3-2 in overtime in 2016, and beat the Dukes 4-3 in overtime in the regular season before falling in the conference semifinals, 2-0.

- Tribe players had an outstanding summer on the Team USA circuit, with six players being invited to the YWNC, and five of those earning an invitation onwards to the Team USA selection camps.  Erin Menges was named to the National Developmental Squad, while Christie van de Kamp (Midlothian, Va.) was chosen for the U21 National Team and Annie Snead (Midlothian, Va.) was named an alternate to the U21 team as well.

- At the conclusion of spring training, the team selected Erin Menges and Katelyn Rennyson (Centreville, Va.) as team captains.

- W&M returns every all-conference honoree from a year ago, including Erin Menges who was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-CAA, all-region, and all-state.  Also back is Cammie Lloyd, a first-team All-CAA and all-state choice at forward, as well as Booter Ellis, who joined Menges on the all-region, all-state, and all-conference second teams.  Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW) was also a member of the All-CAA and all-state second teams, while Annie Snead, Cassidy Goodwin (Gloucester, Va.), and Morgan Connor were all named to the CAA All-Rookie team.

- Eight of the Tribe's 18 regular season opponents begin the year in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Pre-Season Top-25.  In addition to No. 2 Duke, the line-up included No. 3 Delaware, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 Michigan, No. 12 Boston College, No. 19 James Madison, No. 23 Old Dominion, and No. 25 Pacific.  Additionally, the Tribe scrimmaged against No. 25 Liberty during camp.

- At the end of the 2016 season, W&M ranked sixth nationally with 12 defensive saves.  In the individual rankings, Cammie Lloyd was 23rd overall with 0.79 goals per game and 25th with 1.89 points per game, while Erin Menges was 10th in the nation with five defensive saves.

Record Watch
- Morgan Connor: 10th Career Wins (14), 13th Career Goalie Minutes Played (1790), 13th Career Goalie Starts (25), 15th Career Saves (119)
- Booter Ellis: 1st Season Assists Per Game (0.67), T-11th Career Defensive Saves (8), T-13th Career Games Started (61)
- Woodard Hooper: T-16th Season Game-Winning Goals (3)
- Cammie Lloyd: T-4th Season Assists Per Game (0.50), 7th Season Shots Per Game (5.33), 10th Season Points Per Game (1.83), T-12th Season Penalty Stroke Attempts (1), T-5th Career Penalty Strokes Made (2), T-5th Career Penalty Stroke Attempts (3), 7th Career Shots Per Game (2.82), 8th Career Goals Per Game (0.54), 9th Career Points Per Game (1.26), 12th Career Goals (27), T-12th Career Game-Winning Goals (5), 13th Career Points (63), 14th Career Shots (141)
- Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.): 16th Career Goals Per Game (0.33)
- Erin Menges: 6th Career Assists Per Game (0.25), T-11th Career Assists (15), T-11th Career Defensive Saves (8)
- Team: T-8th Assists Per Game (1.50), 11th Shots Per Game (16.17)