The William & Mary field hockey team put up a strong fight with 13 shots taken, including nine on-goal, but was unable to overcome the nation's leading offense in a loss to No. 2 UCONN on Sunday, 6-1. The Tribe moves to 3-4 on the season, while the Huskies, defending NCAA Champions, remain unbeaten at 9-0 overall.
How it Happened
- W&M came out of the gates strong, taking two shots and the game's first penalty corner in the first five minutes, but Connecticut was first on the scoreboard with a goal in the 6th minute. Abby Gooderham got the ball and passed up to Amelia Iacobucci, who spun and shot for her first goal of the season.
- The Tribe responded immediately, however, tying the game just 40 seconds later. Senior captain
Jenny McCann (Annandale, Va.) passed from the wing over to redshirt-senior
Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW, Australia), who then drove into the circle and put on a spin move of her own that slipped past the UCONN goalkeeper and in. It was Hughes' 20th career goal, and her league-leading seventh of the season.
- From there, the Huskies began piling on the goals, scoring four more to take a 5-1 lead into the half despite four saves for W&M - three from junior
Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.), and one from freshman
Kimi Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.). The Tribe was able to begin finding a new groove on the attacking end of the field towards the end of the half, recording another penalty corner and another pair of shots.
- The second half was much more balanced all around, with UCONN holding a narrow 9-8 lead in shots and 7-5 in penalty corners, but Jones made another five saves and the Tribe defense stiffened considerably, holding the Huskies to just one final goal over the final 45 minutes of the game.
Starters
W&M -
Morgan Connor,
Jenny McCann,
Annie Snead,
Ashleigh Nottingham,
Christie van de Kamp,
Estelle Hughes,
Cara Menges,
Woodard Hooper,
Cassidy Goodwin,
Jorja Morgan,
Haley Hopkins
UCONN - Cheyenne Sprecher, Jessica Dembrowski, Amelia Iacobucci, Amanda Collins, Kourtney Kennedy, Lindsay Dickinson, Antonia Tiedtke, Svea Boker, Abby Gooderham, Karo Kueskes, Cecile Pieper
Notes
Estelle Hughes is just the 21st player in W&M's long history (93 years of intercollegiate hockey) to score 20 or more career goals ... Hughes' seven goals already this season tie her career single-season high, and her 16 points are just two off her high in that category ... She leads the CAA in both goals per game and points per game ...
Kimi Jones made a career-high six saves, raising her save percentage to .714 ... That ranks second among CAA goalkeepers.
Up Next
William & Mary heads north next weekend, opening Colonial Athletic Association play with a trip to face Northeastern and Hofstra. The Tribe will be in Boston to face the Huskies on Friday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m., before continuing on to Hempstead, N.Y., and a Sunday noon play-date with the Pride.
