After several strong defensive efforts already this season, the No. 18 William & Mary field hockey offense exploded on Friday night with four goals before falling to Pacific in a barn-burner, 5-4.  The Tribe moves to 5-4 on the year, while the Tigers improved to 4-5 overall.

The Tribe got going early, controlling the pace and tempo for much of the first half.  In the sixth minute, W&M earned its first corner of the game and converted, with senior Emma MacLeod (Richmond, Va.) getting on the end of a shot by Christie van de Kamp (Midlothian, Va.) and redirecting it into the goal to put the Tribe ahead 1-0.  After another 10 minutes of play through the midfield, the Green and Gold pulled another corner and converted once again.  This time, sophomore Cassidy Goodwin (Gloucester, Va.) took the first shot that was saved by Pacific goalkeeper Marlise van Tonder, but Woodard Hooper (Reston, Va.) was there to clean up the rebound and build a 2-0 advantage.  A third corner went to the Tigers in the 22nd minute, and they converted as well on a flick from the initial set that snuck in just under the crossbar to make it 2-1 heading into the break.

Even though the first half was relatively high scoring, the second put even that to shame.  Pacific struck first just a minute in, blitzing straight in to level the score at 2-2.  The Tigers kept up the pressure and earned their second corner in the 40th minute, once again trying the high flick.  This time, W&M knew what to look for and senior captain Erin Menges (Richmond, Va.) made a deft stick save above her head for her team and conference-leading third defensive save of the year.

The Tribe responded in the 43rd, scoring for the third time off a penalty corner.  Once again it was van de Kamp to MacLeod on the tip in, restoring the W&M lead.  Barely a minute later, the Tigers pulled level again, with a hard high shot that flew across cage and into the far upper 90.  In the 48th minute, W&M went ahead again for the third time, this time taking advantage of its fast and aggressive play through the midfield and attack.  Senior Cammie Lloyd (Midlothian, Va.) drove in along the baseline and passed up to sophomore Cata Days (Buenos Aires, Argentina).  As the defense shifted and collapsed to Days, she executed a perfect give-and-go as Lloyd raced past, and took her shot under the goalkeeper to the far corner of the goal for the 4-3 lead.

Pacific scored again in the 54th minute, taking the ball out a scrum in front of the goal and taking advantage of the confusion to sneak a shot through to even the score 4-4, then again in the 58th minute to take the lead for the first and final time.  That was a tip-in goal in front, off a long crossing pass from the deep sideline.  W&M stepped up the intensity over the final 12 minutes on both ends of the field, driving hard for the Pacific goal while sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) made several more strong saves to keep her team in the game.  In the 68th minute, Hooper drove the defense and tried a shot at the near post that was just barely turned aside, and then with 90 seconds to go, W&M earned its seventh and final corner.  The shot from up top came from Lloyd, but the Pacific goalkeeper was once again able to get in front and keep her lead and the win.

Game Starters
W&M: Connor (GK), Menges, Snead, van de Kamp, Hughes, McCarthy, Ellis, Hooper, Goodwin, Lloyd, MacLeod
Pacific: van Tonder (GK), Comeau, Burns, Steffen, Muinos, de Kock, van Wyk, van Lathem, Maine, Leach, Roijakkers

Inside the Numbers
- Pacific held a slight edge in shots, 16-13, thanks to a second half where they took 12 shots to W&M's six.
- W&M was far more successful in earning corners, leading that category 7-2 (3-1 in the first, 4-1 in the second).  The Tribe converted on three of those corners, a .429 percentage.
- Morgan Connor made six saves for the Tribe, all in the second half.  In the last three games, she's averaging nine saves per game.

Notes
This was the 22nd game since 1973 that W&M has been in where at least nine goals have been scored ... The Tribe is 14-8 (.636) in such contests ... W&M tied its season high with four goals ... Both contests in which the Tribe has scored four times this year came against California schools (UC Davis and Pacific) ... Lloyd's goal was her team-leading sixth of the year, and 29th of her career to move into 10th all alone in school history ... MacLeod's multi-goal game gave her four scores for the season, and moved her into 16th in school history with 23 in her career ... This was the fifth two-goal game of MacLeod's career ... Erin Menges moved into a tie for ninth in school history with nine defensive saves ... Christie van de Kamp's two assists are the first two points of her career.