Scouting the Tribe
• The Tribe suffered its third-straight loss to teams currently in the national top 25, falling in double overtime at No. 4 NC State, 2-1, on Sept. 3.
• W&M is ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Region poll on Sept. 4.
• Senior
Ryder Bell leads the Tribe, ranks second in the CAA and comes in the top 20 nationally with three goals on the year. He gave W&M a 1-0 lead over the fourth-ranked Wolfpack with a goal in the sixth minute. Bell, who produced his fourth career multi-goal game at Villanova on Aug. 27, leads the Tribe with seven points on the year. He has notched a point in six of the last seven games dating back to last season.
• Senior
Antonio Bustamante leads the country in assists with five. He has assisted on five of the Tribe's six goals this season and registered an assist in all four contests. Bustamante tallied his second career multi-assists match, tallying two at Villanova.
• Junior
Julian Ngoh posted a point in each of the W&M's first three matches, including goals against both No. 12 North Carolina and Saint Joseph's.
• Freshman goalkeeper
Connor Andrews started each of the first four matches for W&M. He posted a shutout with four saves in the opener against Saint Joseph's. In the Tribe's most recent double OT setback at No. 4 NC State, Andrews made four saves, including a 1-on-1 breakaway in the 10th minute and denying a penalty kick in the 39th minute.
• Bustamante is just two points away from 10th on the Tribe's career points list (75) and three goals shy of the No. 10 spot on that list (30). He ranks second among active NCAA Division I players in career points and fifth in goals.
• Bell ranks among the top 12 active NCAA Division I players in goals, assists and points. He is sixth in points (70) and 11th in both assists (18) and goals (26).
• 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.
Difficult Schedule
• The Tribe's opening four opponents have combined to go 12-3 in the early part of the 2018 season.
• While the Tribe has suffered three-straight losses, all three have come to teams currently ranked in the national top 20 by both the United Soccer Coaches and Top Draw Soccer. NC State is currently ranked No. 4 by TDS and No. 8 in the coaches poll, while North Carolina was No. 10 in the TDS poll and No. 5 in the coaches. Villanova rounded out the trio at No. 15 in the coaches poll and No. 18 by TDS.
• The Green and Gold's schedule remains loaded with opportunities against nationally-ranked competition and teams just outside the United Soccer Coaches rankings. W&M has matches remaining at No. 9 UNCW (Oct. 27), home against No. 19 Coastal Carolina (Sept. 21) and at No. 21 Virginia Tech (Oct. 16). The Tribe also meets Maryland (Sept. 17) and Elon (Sept. 26), who are both receiving votes.
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
Soccer America, 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.
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.
Scouting Longwood
• Longwood evened its season record at 2-2 with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Robert Morris on Saturday. The Lancers won its season opener at VMI, 3-0, on Aug. 24, and suffered home losses to UNCG, 5-1, and UNCW, 2-0.
• In the win over Robert Morris, Longwood scored in the first minute, but needed two second-half goals, including the game-winner from Mikel Abando in 66th minute, to pull out the victory.
• Abando leads the Lancers in scoring with five points on two goals and one assist.
• Markus Gronli owns a goal and two assists for LU, while Jeremy Jaquier, who scored against Robert Morris, has a goal and an assist.
• Jacob Reimers has started all four matches in goal for Longwood and owns a 2.42 goals against average with nine saves.
Series History: W&M vs. Longwood
• W&M leads the all-time series with the Lancers at 7-0, and the Green and Gold owns a 25-2 advantage in goals scored in the six meetings.
• Last season, the Tribe downed the Lancers, 1-0, in overtime.
Antonio Bustamante scored the game-winner in the 98th minute in Farmville. W&M downed LU, 2-0, in Williamsburg in 2016.
• In both 2015 and 2016 games, Bustamante tallied a goal and an assist against the Lancers.
Ryder Bell recorded an assist in 2016 and a goal in 2015 vs. Longwood.
