The William & Mary field hockey team showed off its resilient and unrelenting character on Thursday night, battling back from being down a goal to upset No. 5-ranked Louisville, 2-1 in double overtime. The win, the seventh in a row for the Tribe, improved W&M to 10-5 on the year, while the Cardinals fell to 13-3 overall.
How it Happened
- Louisville proved their lofty billing was well justified, controlling the pace of play and peppering the goal in the first period with five shots and two corners in the first nine minutes.
- After sophomore goalkeeper
Kimi Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) made her third save of the night on a point-blank shot from the near post, the fight over the rebound led to a whistle and a penalty stroke for Louisville which Carter Ayars converted in the first seconds of the 10th minute and a 1-0 lead.
- The second quarter was played betweent he two circles for the most part, with only three shots total, one by W&M senior
Woodard Hooper (Williamsburg, Va.) and two by Louisville. Jones earned her fourth save of the contest to keep the Tribe within striking distance and down just a goal.
- The third quarter was again scoreless, though not for lack of trying as both teams took three shots and had two penalty corners. Louisville goalkeeper Hollyn Barr made three saves in the first five minutes to keep W&M off the board, and the Tribe also had the best scoring chance of the quarter disallowed on a corner in the 43rd minute, when junior
Melanie Strik's (Den Haag, The Netherlands) towering shot from up top came in too high.
- On the Tribe's defensive end, Jones made two more big saves late in the quarter, running her total to six on the night.
- The fourth quarter started off with a scary moment for W&M, as Louisville earned another penalty corner in the 48th minute, but the Cardinals' shot deflected off a foot and the scoring threat was taken away.
- Playing with the advantage after a Louisville card, W&M finally broke through in the 56th minute and tied the match 1-1. Senior captain
Christie van de Kamp (Midlothian, Va.) got the ball in a side lane above the circle, and after splitting two defenders sent a pass rocketing through the scoring area where she found sophomore captain
Cara Menges (Richmond, Va.) in stride for a full shot that beat the goalkeeper near side. It was the team-leading seventh assist of the season for van de Kamp, and Menges' fourth goal.
- Most of the first overtime period was controlled by Louisville on their side of the half, just trying to make W&M chase and waste energy, before moving in and peppering the goal for a mad minute in the 67th and 68th minutes. The Cardinals took four shots and had a corner in just over 70 seconds, but Jones and the Tribe defense stood tall, making two saves, and sending the match to a second overtime.
- The second 7v7 period saw a bit more action, with the Tribe drawing a corner in the 72nd minute, but van de Kamp's shot slide just wide.
- In the 74th, Jones made her 10th and final save of the night, matching her season-high, and on the counter-attack the Tribe struck gold. Junior
Haley Hopkins (Springfield, Va.) pushed the ball upfield, and dished to freshman
Sally Snead (Midlothian, Va.). Snead held possession for a few crucial moments at the dots, then found Hopkins rolling to cage with the defender just half a step behind her. Hopkins got the pass in stride, wound up, and delivered a shot straight through the middle of the cage for the golden goal and the 2-1 victory.
Starters
W&M -
Kimi Jones,
Haley Hopkins,
Annie Snead,
Ella Donahue,
Tabby Billingham,
Cata Days,
Christie van de Kamp,
Cara Menges,
Cassidy Goodwin,
Jorja Morgan,
Ashley Drum
UL - Hollyn Barr, Bethany Russ, Meghan Schneider, Carter Ayars, Taylor Orsi, Mercedes Pastor, Alli Bitting, Erica Cooper, Madison Walsh, Margot Lawn, Julie Kouijzer
Notes
W&M's seven-game winning streak is its longest since winning nine in a row in 2002 ... W&M is one of just four teams nationally with an active winning streak seven games or longer ... This was the Tribe's first win over a top-five ranked team since 2013, another 2-1 victory over Virginia ... That was also W&M's last win over an ACC team before Thursday night ... The Tribe is now 3-7 all-time against No. 5 ... Jones now has 10 wins on the year for the second season in a row ... She's just the sixth goalkeeper in school history to have multiple 10-win seasons, and the first since
Gwen Hunter '08 in 2005 and 2006 ... Over the last two seasons, W&M is 8-of-12 in overtime contests ... The Tribe improved to 25-10 (.714) in games decided by one or two goals since the start of 2017, including 14-7 (.667) in one-goal games.
Up Next
William & Mary will look to lock up a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on Sunday, hosting Northeastern at 1 p.m.
