The William & Mary field hockey team turned in a strong performance at home on Sunday, scoring a pair of goals, but was unable to overcome No. 18 Delaware before falling, 4-2. The Tribe moves to 8-6 on the year and 4-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Blue Hens improved to 10-6 (4-0 CAA), and extended their conference winning streak to 22 games.
How it Happened
- The Blue Hens pushed upfield first, and took two corners and two shots in the first three minutes. Freshman goalkeeper
Kimi Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) and the Tribe defense kept them out, however, and gave the offense a chance to push back the other way.
- That push paid off early in the 10th minute with a 1-0 lead for W&M. Junior
Woodard Hooper (Reston, Va.) and senior
Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW, Australia) built up the attack along the near sideline, giving and going through the defense, before Hughes got the final pass high in the circle. She was able to spy sophomore
Ella Donahue (Midlothian, Va.) three yards off the far post, passed it over to her, and Donahue slipped her shot behind Delaware goalkeeper Sydney Rhodes for the score.
- The teams traded shots and corners as the half progressed, before Delaware began to register goals over the final 10 minutes before the intermission. In the 27th minute, Tessa Verweijen drove along the edge of the circle before she was able to find an opening for her shot to go in, and in the 30th minute, a Blue Hens corner led to a shot by All-American Greta Nauck that was tipped in by Femke Strien.
- Michaela Scanlon and Lisa Giezeman connected in the 34th minute to up the Delaware lead to 3-1, and Strien nearly added another but junior
Cassidy Goodwin (Gloucester, Va.) cleared the shot off the line to register a defensive save and end the half.
- In the second half, W&M increased the attacking pressure, winning two corners in the first five minutes, but Rhodes added another save and Lotte de Koning had a defensive save to turn them both away. Finally, in the 42nd minute, the Tribe pulled back within one at 3-2. Hooper drove in on the attack, and passed over to
Melanie Strik (Den Haag, The Netherlands) who shot through Rhodes and in for the score.
- Delaware came back down the field and took a pair of penalty corners, before the Tribe marched back down the field and tried a flurry of shots that were stopped just before the goal line and cleared away. On the defensive end of the field, the Blue Hens were able to take on one more goal in the 57th minute to set the final margin. Nauck tried a shot that was saved by junior goalkeeper
Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.), but the rebound rolled through to Verweijen at the back post for the tap in and her second goal of the day.
- For the game, the Delaware goalkeeper Rhodes made nine saves in addition to the defensive save for de Koning, while for the Tribe, Jones made four saves in the first half, Connor had three in the second half, and Goodwin added a defensive save of her own.
Starters
W&M -
Kimi Jones,
Melanie Strik,
Annie Snead,
Ashleigh Nottingham,
Christie van de Kamp,
Estelle Hughes,
Cara Menges,
Woodard Hooper,
Cassidy Goodwin,
Jorja Morgan,
Haley Hopkins
Delaware - Sydney Rhodes, Michaela Scanlon, Laurien Vink, Lotte de Koning, Emily Kresho, Ellie Schepens, Lisa Giezeman, Kiki Bink, Femke Strien, Greta Nauck, Tessa Verweijen
Notes
Donahue's goal was first of the season for her, and the second of her career ... 13 players have now scored a goal for W&M this season, and 15 have at least a point out of 21 players who have seen time in the field ... Goodwin's defensive save was the first of the season for W&M, and the fifth of her career ... Strik scored her third goal of the season.
Up Next
William & Mary closes out its home schedule on Friday night, Oct. 26, hosting No. 23 Virginia at 6 p.m. It will be the final home game for the senior class, who have led W&M to a four-year record of 37-35, 14-9 in the CAA, and 18-18 at Busch Field.
