Scouting the Tribe
• The Tribe starts the year in
College Soccer News' top 30 coming at No. 30 in the preseason poll rankings released on Aug. 20.
• W&M also received votes in the 2018 United Soccer Coaches Division I Preseason National Rankings. W&M, which tallied two votes, was among 24 teams in the also receiving votes category.
• The Green and Gold faces a difficult schedule, including match-ups with eight teams that appeared or received votes for the
College Soccer News or the United Soccer Coaches polls. The Tribe hosts No. 3 (USC) North Carolina (Aug. 31) and No. 16 (USC) Coastal Carolina (Sept. 21), while having road tests at No. 23 (
CSN) Maryland (Sept. 17) and No. 29 (
CSN) N.C. State (Sept. 3). W&M has four road matches against teams in the receiving votes category of the
CSN poll - Loyola (Md.) (Sept. 7), Old Dominion (Oct. 3), Virginia Tech (Oct. 16) and UNCW (Oct. 27).
• In 2018, the Green and Gold welcomes back eight starters, eight of its top nine scorers, 89.5 percent (34-of-38) of its goal scoring, 78.4 percent (29-of-37) its assists and 85.8 percent (97-of-113) of its point production.
• Seniors
Antonio Bustamante and
Ryder Bell both ranked among the top active NCAA Division I players in major offensive categories entering their senior seasons. Bustamante is third among active players in points (70) and fourth in goals (30). Bell is in the top 15 in three categories, ranking seventh in points (63) and assists (17) as well as 13th in goals (23).
• According to
Top Drawer Soccer, the Tribe has three of the top eight players in the CAA. In the website's preseason conference rankings, Bustamante was the top player in the league followed by Bell at No. 3 and senior
Marcel Berry at No. 8.
• The Tribe is 29-9-2 since 1978 in home openers, including a 10-4 mark under head coach
Chris Norris. Since 1978, the Tribe is 19-17-4 in opening matches, including a 12-8-2 mark when those openers are at home.
Exhibition Win over George Mason
• Senior
Ryder Bell scored twice to spark the Tribe to a dominating 4-1 victory in its lone exhibition match at George Mason on Aug. 20.
• Juniors
Julian Ngoh and
Tanner Shane assisted on Bell's goals, while senior Graham Gruidry added a marker of his own. Senior Antonio Bustsamante and junior
Lee Hogge tallied assists as well.
• W&M outshot the Patriots, 19-7, including a 9-1 advantage on goal, and the Tribe held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks as well.
• Senior
Sam Onyeador (first half) and freshman
Connor Andrews (second half) split time in goal in the exhibition.
Preseason CAA Favorite and League Awards
• W&M was selected as the preseason favorite to win the CAA for the second-straight year by vote of league coaches on Aug. 16. The Tribe was the unanimous selection, garnering the eight first-place votes from opposing league coaches and tallying the maximum number of points with 64. UNCW was second with 56 points, including one first-place vote.
• Senior
Antonio Bustamante was named the preseason CAA Player of the Year for the second-straight season. He was a consensus All-American and league player of the year in 2017.
• Seniors
Ryder Bell and
Marcel Berry joined Bustamante on the 12-member preseason All-CAA team. All three players earned the honor for the third-straight year.
National Renowned
• Senior
Antonio Bustamante was one of 32 players named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List on Aug. 9. It marked the second-straight year he earned a spot on the list. A semifinal list of 15 will be announced in November, and the winner announced on Jan. 4, 2019 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
• Bustamante was named a preseason First Team All-American by both
Top Drawer Soccer and
College Soccer News. A consensus All-American in 2017, he was selected to the
TDS Best XI First Team at the end of 2017 as well.
• In
Top Drawer Soccer's preseason player rankings, Bustamante was rated as the fifth-best player in the country by the Website. He finished last season at No. 10 on
TDS's top players list.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
• A member of the D.C. United Academy during his club career, senior
Antonio Bustamante trained with the Major League Soccer (MLS) organization's first team over the summer.
• Senior
Marcel Berry helped the Des Moines Menace to the Heartland Division title and the overall Premier Development League (PDL) regular season championship thanks to an impressive 13-0-1 record. He also joined Des Moines in training with MLS side Minnesota FC as well.
• Senior
Ryder Bell worked in commercial banking for JPMorgan Chase in San Francisco and played with PDL team San Francisco City FC.
• Both juniors
Ricardo Acosta and
Julian Ngoh worked internship with Ernst & Young in Richmond, Va., while senior
Remi Frost worked on the Merrill Lynch side of Bank of America in New York.
Scouting Saint Joseph's
• Saint Joseph's played two exhibition matches prior to the season, drawing Big Ten foe Northwestern, 2-2, and falling to CAA counterpart Delaware, 1-0.
• SJU was picked 12th in the 13-team Atlantic-10 preseason poll.
• The Hawks return eight starters and 15 letterwinners from last season's 3-11-4 season. SJU was 1-6-1 in the Atlantic 10 and finished 11th in the league.
• Saint Joseph's is led by alum Don D'Ambra, who is 34-90-19 and enters his ninth season.
• SJU adds 14 players to the mix in 2018, including nine true freshmen, three redshirt freshmen, one redshirt junior transfer and one junior transfer addition. The junior transfer is Leon Maric who joined the Hawks after two seasons at Virginia.
• Offensively, Saint Joseph's scored 17 goals last season. Sophomore midfielder Ritchie Barry is the program's top returning scorer after totaling two goals and two assists a season ago.
• The Hawks allowed 32 goals and a 1.68 goals against average defensively in 2017.
Series History: W&M vs. Saint Joseph's
• The Tribe won the only previous meeting between the teams by an 8-0 score line to open the 2005 season in Williamsburg.
• Andreas Nydal and Andrew Hoxie both scored a pair of goals for the Tribe in the victory.
Scouting Villanova
• Villanova finished last season at 7-11, including a 2-7 BIG EAST mark.
• The Wildcats, which qualified for their first NCAA Tournament in 2016, was picked eighth in the 10-team BIG EAST preseason poll.
• VU return five starters from last season, including Second Team All-BIG EAST defender Shane Bradley.
• Sophomore Theo Quartey and senior Zach Zandi are Villanova's top returning scorers as three goals apiece in 2017.
• Last season, Villanova scored 23 goals and totaled 18 assists, while allowing 25 goals with 22 assists.
• The Wildcats added a pair of impact transfers in Wisconsin graduate transfer Enda O'Neill and Evan Vare, a junior transfer from Lafayette. O'Neill started 40 matches over three years for the Badgers, while Vare led the Leopards with seven goals in 2017.
Series History: W&M vs. Villanova
• Monday will be the first meeting between the Tribe and Wildcats.
• It will be the Tribe's first game against the BIG EAST since a 1-0 win over Georgetown in 2016.
• W&M travels to a BIG EAST foe for the first time since 2014 when the Hoyas knocked off the Green and Gold, 1-0.
Up Next
• The Tribe hosts No. 3-ranked and 2017 College Cup semifinalist North Carolina on Friday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., from Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.
• The game will be streamed for FREE via Tribe Athletics TV and live stats will be available at TribeAthletics.com.
