With both the offense and defense stepping up in key moments, the William & Mary field hockey team overcame an early 2-0 deficit to score three un-answered goals and beat Northeastern in overtime, 3-2 in the conference opener on Friday night.  With the win, the Tribe improved to 4-4 overall, 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Huskies fell to 2-8 (0-1 CAA).

How it Happened
- Northeastern came out firing early, and controlled the pace of play for much of the first half.  W&M's defense and freshman goalkeeper Kimi Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) stood tall, turning away each of the first six shots and several threatening attempts over the first 20 minutes.
- The Huskies finally broke through in the 20th minute, when Kellie Stigas' pass through the defense found Lexie Dunleavy close by the far post.
- Just over two minutes later, NU went ahead 2-0, with leading scorer June Curry-Lindahl dribbling through the defense and flipping a shot past Jones.
- Undeterred, Jones continued to play strongly, making two saves in quick succession before swiping aside a pass to end the attack in the 24th minute, and the defensive line in front of her frustrated two more penalty corners over the final 10 minutes.
- In the final minute before the half, the Tribe offense, which had been building steam for several minutes, finally broke through to score and cut the deficit in half.  Caitlin Maclean (Devizes, Wiltshire, England) snaked a pass through the defense and found redshirt-senior Estelle Hughes (Newcastle, NSW, Australia), who flicked a shot up and over the goalkeeper for her conference-leading eighth goal of the year.
- W&M kept the momentum going in the second half, scoring the equalizer in the 39th minute.  Freshman Cara Menges (Richmond, Va.) dumped a shot in from the left wing that darted through the forest of defenders and found the netting on the far side for her second goal of the year.
- For the final 30 minutes of regulation, neither team was able to generate another breakthrough.  W&M had several breakaway attempts that were unable to find the final touch, while Northeastern's seven penalty corners were all stifled by the Tribe defense, including one as time expired in the half.  Jones made five of her career-high eight saves over the course of the final 23 minutes to preserve the tie.
- As overtime began, the struggle for possession in the midfield continued.  Northeastern had the first shot attempt in the 72nd minute, but that would prove to be their only attempt.
- On the other end of the field Hughes attempted to score her second overtime game-winner of the season at the start of the 74th minute, but her shot was knocked out of the air by NU goalkeeper Julia Gluyas.
- The W&M offense kept the ball down in the Northeastern circle, and finally got the breakthrough bare 20 seconds later.  Menges stole the ball on the baseline from the stick of a Huskies defender and drove in to the near post, flicking a hard low-angle shot past Gluyas and into the far boards for the winning score.

Starters
W&M - Kimi Jones, Jenny McCann, Annie Snead, Ashleigh Nottingham, Christie van de Kamp, Estelle Hughes, Cara Menges, Woodard Hooper, Cassidy Goodwin, Jorja Morgan, Haley Hopkins
NU - Julia Gluyas, Melanie Weber, Laura MacLachlan, Ffion Thompson, Megan Barrett, Sam Bodo, Camille O'Conor, Lauren Brewster, Rachel Campbell, June Curry-Lindahl, Kellie Stigas

Notes
W&M won despite Northeastern holding a 23-11 advantage in shots, and an 11-0 advantage in penalty corners ... The Tribe defense held the Huskies scoreless on every corner ... Kimi Jones made her first career start in goal ... Jones also made a career-high eight saves ... Estelle Hughes' eighth goal of the year kept her in the CAA lead, and was her career-best in a single season ... Cara Menges had her first career multi-goal game ... Menges is now tied for second in the league with two game-winning goals this season ... Caitlin Maclean made her second assist of the year ... W&M won its first conference game for the 24th time in 34 years, and the third year in a row ... The win was the 48th of head coach Tess Ellis' career, leaving her just two shy of 50 wins.

Up Next
William & Mary continues on the road this weekend, taking on Hofstra (3-9, 1-0 CAA) at noon on Sunday.