The William & Mary field hockey team heads to the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament this weekend in Newark, Del., in search of the program's first-ever conference title and third trip to the NCAA Tournament.  The Tribe, seeded No. 2 after a 5-1 regular season, will take on No. 3-seed Northeastern (4-2) on Friday night, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m. in the semifinal round.  The winner will advance to Sunday's 1 p.m. championship match against either top-seeded and No. 14-ranked Delaware (6-0) or No. 4-seeded James Madison (2-4).  All three games of the tournament will be streamed live for free on CAA.TV, and can also be followed via live stats on CAASports.com.

Scouting the Tribe
W&M is 9-7 overall and 5-1 in the CAA, after splitting the last three weeks of the season.  W&M had a league-high eight players named to All-CAA teams, including Defensive Player of the Year Christie van de Kamp (Midlothian, Va.), who scored seven goals and six assists this season, as well as co-Rookie of the Year Kimi Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.), who ranked first in save percentage (.706) and second in GAA (1.91) among all CAA goalkeepers this season.  Other outstanding players have included leading scorers Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW, Australia) and Woodard Hooper (Reston, Va.), 10 goals apiece, as well as Annie Snead (Midlothian, Va.), who has a league-leading 10 assists, and Cassidy Goodwin (Gloucester, Va.), four goals and two defensive saves.

Scouting the Huskies
Northeastern went 8-10 in the regular season and 4-2 in CAA play, and had two players named to the All-CAA first team.  June Curry-Lindahl led the CAA in scoring with 12 goals and eight assists (32 points), while Laura MacLachlan had 10 points (four goals, two assists).  Three players earned a spot on the second-team, including Camille O'Conor (7g,5a), Rachel Campbell (9g,1a), and goalkeeper Julia Gluyas, who had a 2.41 GAA and 94 saves on a .686 save percentage.

Scouting the Dukes
James Madison finished the regular season at 6-11 overall and 2-4 in the CAA, earning the No. 4 seed over Drexel and Hofstra based on goal differential in league play.  Both Corey Mayer (6g,4a) and Rachel Yeager (8g) were named to the All-CAA first team, while Elfi de Rooij (7g,3a) made the All-Rookie team.  In goal, Caitlin Nelson has earned the majority of minutes with a 3.28 GAA and 96 saves on a .667 save percentage.

Scouting the Blue Hens
Delaware finished the year on a tear, winning their last seven in a row to finish 12-6 (6-0 CAA), and are ranked No. 14 nationally in the latest poll.  The Blue Hens have won their last 24 in a row against CAA teams and have won every CAA tournament since 2012.  Delaware had four players named to the All-CAA first team, including Player of the Year Lotte de Koning (9g, 5a), senior All-American Greta Nauck (9g,10a), Lisa Giezeman (6g,4a), and goalkeeper Sydney Rhodes, who had a 1.71 GAA and 52 saves on a .703 save percentage.  Freshman Tessa Verweijen shared Rookie of the Year honors, after scoring six goals and three assists.


The Series
- W&M is 8-11 all-time against Northeastern and winners of three in a row.  Earlier this season, the Huskies went up 2-0 in the first half before the Tribe scored three unanswered to win in overtime.

- The Tribe is 23-40-6 all-time against James Madison, and winners of two in a row after JMU had won the two before that.  Their last meeting was less than a week ago, in the regular season finale, where W&M won a wild 5-4 tilt in overtime.

- W&M is 8-17 all-time against Delaware, with the Blue Hens winning the last 10 in a row dating back to the 2012 CAA Tournament.  In their meeting this season, Delaware won 4-2 in Williamsburg.


W&M in the CAA Tournament
- Since the CAA (and its predecessor, the South Atlantic Conference) began play in 1984, W&M has been to 30 of the 35 conference tournaments, second-most among all schools behind only James Madison (31).

- Since the tournament moved to qualification in 2002, W&M's 12 appearances is third, behind Delaware and JMU with 13 each.  Prior to 2002, every team made the tournament every year.

- Overall, the Tribe is 23-29 (.442) in the CAA Tournament.

- W&M is 17-12 all-time in its first match of the tournament (.586)

- In the semifinal round, W&M is 4-20 (.167) overall, reaching the championship game in 1989, 1991, 2002, and 2017.

- The Tribe is 0-4 in the championship game, with three losses to Old Dominion and once to Delaware.

- As the No. 2 seed, W&M is 7-8 (.467) all-time.

- W&M and its first-round opponent, Northeastern, have only met once before in the conference tournament.  In 2006, the Huskies won 4-1 in the quarterfinal round.

- The Tribe has met James Madison 14 times, more than any other school, and is 4-10 (.286) against the Dukes.  The last meeting came in the 2017 semifinals, a 2-1 W&M win.

- W&M and Delaware have met six times so far, with the Tribe holding a 1-5 (.167) record.  W&M won the first-ever meeting in 2002, but has been eliminated by Delaware in four of the last six years including the 2017 championship game.


News and Notes
- W&M led all teams this year with a program-record eight players named to the All-CAA teams.  That beat the old record of seven set in 2001 and 2016, and tied the all-time CAA record for a single school, first set by Old Dominion in 1997.  ODU has five seasons with 8 All-CAA winners, while Delaware has three, and W&M, James Madison, and Drexel have one each.

- Both van de Kamp and Hughes were named to the All-CAA first team, a first for both players.

- Making the second team was the junior trio of Goodwin, Hooper, and Snead.

- Joining Jones on the all-rookie team were Cara Menges (Richmond, Va.) and Jorja Morgan (Wakerley, QLD, Australia).

- W&M's three all-rookie selections tied the program record set back in 2016.

- All eight of W&M's selections made their respective teams for the first time.

- Head coach Tess Ellis was named the CAA Coach of the Year for the third time in her six seasons, joining an elite set of coaches who have won three or more Coach of the Year awards.  That includes Beth Anders of Old Dominion (12), Christy Morgan of James Madison (3), Rolf van de Kerkhof of Delaware (3), and Peel Hawthorne '80 of William & Mary (3).

- The final NFHCA national poll of the regular season included six W&M opponents.  No. 3 Duke led the way, followed by No. 4 Connecticut, No. 14 Delaware, No. 16 Virginia, No. 20 Wake Forest, and No. 22 Stanford.

- Despite playing only 16 games, the fewest since 1989, W&M is well-tested this season after playing in an NCAA-leading seven overtime games, which is also tied for the most ever in a season in program history with the 1983 team.  Those seven games have produced 11 overtime periods, second-most in the nation, and four overtime wins, which are also second-most this season and tied for the program record originally established by the 1990 squad.

- One of the hallmarks of W&M's success this season has been strong play in penalty corners on both ends of the field.  The Tribe scored 16 goals on 81 attempts on offense, by far the best rate (19.75%) in the CAA this season, and ranked third on corner defense (85.56%) by less than a point, stopping 77 of 90 corners against.  Of the other three teams to make the tournament, the best offense belonged to Delaware (20 of 125, 16%), while the next best defense was James Madison at 80.53% (22 allowed on 113 attempts).

- This is the second year in a row and 12th overall that W&M has had multiple players score 10+ goals in the same season.  The record is three, achieved by the 1975 and 2000 teams.

- Hughes was named to the Victory Sports Tours/NFHCA Senior Game this year, one of just 38 players nationally and three from the CAA to garner the prestigious invitation.

- Snead's 10 assists this year is tied for third-most all-time at W&M, just one behind the school record of 11 set by All-Americans Pixie Hamilton '80 (in 1979) and Karen Thorne '84 (in 1982).  She also is on pace to break the single-season record with 0.63 assists per game (Thorne, 0.61 in 18 games in 1982).

- So far this season, W&M players have recorded nine multi-goal games, including against Pacific when both Hooper and van de Kamp scored two goals apiece and against James Madison, when it was Hooper and Hughes.

- The Tribe have also been exceedingly generous with the ball, with six multi-assist games on the ledger.  Both Snead and van de Kamp have had two double-assist games.

- Between the 22nd minute against Northeastern and the 24th minute against No. 21 Stanford, the W&M defense shutout its opponents for 285:11.  In that time, the Tribe out-scored its foes 17-0.

- Hooper's hat trick against Towson was the first of her career, and tied her for 15th all-time in a single game at W&M.  She has three multi-goal games this season, and is tied for eighth all-time at W&M with four games of 2+ goals.

- Hughes' hat trick against Brown was her first, and also one of three multi-goal games this season.  She's tied for third in school history with six games of 2+ goals.

- With both Hooper and Hughes scoring hat tricks this season, this is the first year since 2003 that W&M has had multiple hat tricks in the same year.

- Jones was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 16, after going 1-1 against Pacific and No. 21 Stanford, and added a second award on Oct. 30, after averaging 8.5 saves per game against No. 20 Virginia and James Madison.

- Hooper was named the CAA Player of the Week on Oct. 9 following her performance against Towson.

- Menges was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 2, after scoring two goals including the overtime game-winner against Northeastern.

- Hughes was named the CAA Player of the Week back on Sept. 11, after scoring four goals and an assist and leading W&M to wins over Brown and VCU.

- This season marked the first time that the Tribe has ever played west of the Mississippi River.  The Tribe is 9-7 all-time against teams from California, but before this year, all of those games were held either in Williamsburg or at other neutral sites.

- Head coach Tess Ellis became the third W&M coach to reach 50 wins with the victory over Towson, joining Nancy Porter (1974-1981) and Peel Hawthorne '80 (1987-2013)

- W&M's 4-0 start in CAA play matched the 2004 team as the only 4-0 starts in school history.

- The first seven of the Tribe's games this season were all won with at least four goals, the longest-such streak in school history.  Before the  6-1 win for No. 2 UCONN, the first six games had all been won with four goals each, which is the longest-ever streak of the same winning totals.

- With games against UCONN and Delaware, this is the first time since 1999 that the Tribe has played each of the previous two NCAA Champions in the same season.

- With the cancellation of the Davidson match due to Hurricane Florence, W&M finished the regular season with the fewest number of games played (16) since the 1989 season, which had 15 games before the South Atlantic Conference tournament.  W&M went 10-5 in those 15 games, and finished 12-6 after reaching the conference championship game.

- Over the summer, Christie van de Kamp was named to the Team USA U21 Junior National Team for the second year in a row.

- Both van de Kamp and and senior Jenny McCann (Annandale, Va.) have served as team captains this season.