Scouting the Tribe
W&M opens CAA play on a three-match unbeaten streak following a 2-1 road win at George Washington on Tuesday afternoon. The Green and Gold also tallied a 3-2 overtime win over N.C. State and a scoreless game-shortened tie against Loyola (Md.) during the streak. Junior
Ryder Bell has scored in two of the Tribe's last three games, including the game-winner in the 82nd minute at GW. He is currently tied for the CAA lead with two goals on the year. After the Tribe fell behind against George Washington in the 70th minute, junior
Marcel Berry found senior
William Eskay for the equalizer just four minutes later. Berry leads the Tribe and ranks second in the CAA with two assists on the year. Eskay owns a goal and an assist this season. Along with the win on Tuesday, the Tribe earned the No. 7 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region Rankings. W&M was one of four CAA programs in the top 10 along with No. 3 UNCW, No. 6 Elon and No. 8 Delaware. Indiana was No. 1 in the poll followed by No. 2 Maryland, No. 4 Michigan State and No. 5 Michigan, who topped the Tribe 1-0 in the season opener on a PK, of the Big Ten.
Scouting Drexel
Drexel enters the game at 0-2 on the year after dropping 3-0 decisions to St. John's and Bowling Green, both at home, to start the season. The Dragons finished last season at 1-14-2 and were picked preseason No. 9 in the CAA by the vote of league coaches. In the two losses this season, Drexel was outshot 21-12 vs. BGSU and 18-8 against St. John's. Jacob Jordan has started both games in goal for the Dragons. He was named to the Philadelphia Soccer Six All-Rookie Team in 2015. Through two games, he has a GAA of 3.00 and leads the CAA in saves per game at 5.50. Drexel only scored seven goals last season, while allowing 32. Xavier Hernandez is the Dragons' top returning scorer from a season ago with a goal and an assist, while Ben Hemo Eden recorded a goal.
Series History: W&M vs. Drexel
- W&M leads the all-time series with Drexel at 13-4 and have outscored the Dragons, 33-14, in those 17 meetings.
- Three of Drexel's four wins in the series have come in Philadelphia, including the 2013 CAA Championship game.
- The Tribe has won the last three contests by a combined score of 7-1. Last season,
Antonio Bustamante scored in the 89th minute from
William Eskay to clinch the Tribe's spot in the CAA Tournament. In 2015,
Marcel Berry tallied the game-winner for the Tribe in a 3-0 victory, while
Ryder Bell registered two assists and
John Fuquene added one.
CAA Opener
- The Green and Gold will play on the road for the fourth time in the last five years to start in the CAA ledger. In fact, Saturday marks the eighth time in the last decade the Green and Gold conference opener has been away from Williamsburg.
- The Tribe dropped its CAA opener at Delaware, 2-1, in double overtime last year.
- The meeting with Drexel is the second for the Tribe in a CAA opener over the last five seasons. The Dragons downed the Green and Gold, 2-1, in the 2013 league opener in Philadelphia.
- W&M is in search of its first victory in a CAA opener since downing UNCW, 1-0, in Wilmington during the 2011 campaign.
Top Drawer Soccer Conference Top 20
- The Tribe placed three players among the top 10 and five total in the top 20 in the Colonial Athletic Association's top players according to the web site Top Drawer Soccer.
- Both the Tribe and Delaware led the CAA with three top-10 selections and five total top-20 picks.
- Junior
Antonio Bustamante was selected as the top player in the league by the organization followed by
Ryder Bell at No. 3,
Marcel Berry at No. 6,
William Eskay at No. 13 and
Tanner Shane at No. 20.
On the Road Again
- The Tribe opened its season-long three-match road trip with a 2-1 win at George Washington on Tuesday. The Green and Gold continues the trip at Drexel on Saturday, before wrapping it up against No. 7 North Carolina on Sept. 13 in Cary, N.C.
- It marks the third time in the last five years that the Tribe has embarked on a three-match road trip. In both 2013 and 2015, W&M went 2-1 during its road swings.
- In 2015, the Green and Gold posted 3-2 wins at Longwood and Navy, before dropping its CAA opener at Charleston, 3-1.
- In 2013, the Tribe posted back-to-back nationally-ranked wins at Elon, 1-0, and No. 1-ranked North Carolina, 1-0. The third game of the stretch W&M dropped a 2-1 decision at Drexel in its CAA opener.
Overtime Win over N.C. State
- The Tribe's overtime victory over N.C. State on Aug. 28 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 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. It 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.
- 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.
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.
- 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.
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.
- 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.
Up Next
The Tribe faces North Carolina for the fifth-straight season on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The Tar Heels are playing all their 2017 home games at WakeMed Soccer Park with UNC's home facility of Fetzer Field under renovation. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3 via ACC Network Extra.
