WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – For the fourth-straight season, William & Mary men's soccer will compete in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, this time as the event's No. 4 seed. The Tribe travels to Wilmington, N.C. to take on No. 5 seed Northeastern in the league quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m.
FloSports will have complete coverage of the 2019 CAA Men's Soccer Championship, including Friday's and Sunday's matches.
FloSports is available on computers and on mobile devices as well as Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire and other OTT platforms. The subscription-based platform is offered for as low as $7.99 per month.
Scouting the Tribe
- The Tribe enters the CAA Tournament off its biggest win of the year, upsetting No. 21-ranked James Madison, 3-2, in Harrisonburg on Nov. 2. Redshirt freshman
Theo Biddle headed home an
Alfredo Bozalongo corner kick in the 88th minute as the Tribe twice rallied from a goal deficit to pick up the win on Biddle's first collegiate goal.
- It marked the Tribe's first nationally-ranked win since topping No. 21 Coastal Carolina in 2016 and its first nationally-ranked road victory since winning at No. 1 North Carolina in 2013. In total, the Green and Gold posted its 11th nationally-ranked win under head coach
Chris Norris.
- W&M enters the CAA Championship at 6-8-2 on the year and finished fourth in the league standings with a 4-3-1 record. It was the Tribe's best CAA record since going 4-2-1 in 2013.
- Senior
Julian Ngoh leads the Tribe in both points (14) and goals (6). He ranks fifth in the league in goals and eighth in points. Ngoh tallied his sixth goal of the season on a PK in the second half at JMU and has four goals in the Tribe's last four matches.
- Freshman
Alfredo Bozalongo leads the CAA and ranks 54th nationally in assists with six. All 10 of his points this season (2g, 6a) have come in CAA play, which ranks fifth in the league.
- Fellow freshman
Alexander Levengood is second on the team with five goals and is tied with Bozalongo for the second-most points on the team (10). He scored the equalizer at JMU to tie the match at two in the 71st minute. Levengood scored three goals in the CAA, including the lone W&M marker in the team's 1-1 draw with UNCW.
- Bozalongo was twice named the CAA Rookie of the Week this season. He most recently earned the honor after recording the CAA's lone three-assist match of the season in a 5-1 win over Delaware on Oct. 22. He picked up his first award on Oct. 14 following his two-goal effort, including the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining in the first OT period, in a 2-1 victory over Elon.
- Freshman
Nathan Messer garnered CAA Rookie of the Week honors earlier this season. He received the distinction on Sept. 30 after assisting on the game-winner against Loyola Maryland and scoring the game-winner at Charleston.
- On three occasions this season, a Tribe player has been recognized as the CAA Defensive Player of the Week. Freshman goalkeeper
Kieran Baskett garnered the distinction twice on Sept. 14 and Oct. 7, while junior back
Sam Golan received the honor on Sept. 30 after tallying a goal and an assist in a road win at Charleston.
- In each of the last 14 matches, the Tribe has started at least five freshmen. On five occasions this season, a total of six freshmen appeared in the W&M starting XI, and the Tribe is 3-2 in those contests. It is the first time W&M started six freshmen in a game since 2007.
- Baskett leads the CAA in saves (62), while coming in second in shutouts (3), third in save percentage (.705) and sixth in goals against average (1.56). He is 38th nationally in saves, as of Nov. 5.
- Baskett tallied a career-high 11 saves against UNCW, which were the most for a W&M player since 1998 when Adin Brown tallied 12 against St. John's. He was named to
College Soccer News National Team of the Week for his efforts.
- In total, 60.8 percent of the Tribe's starts this season (107-of-176) have come from its underclassmen – freshmen and sophomores. The rookies own 82 of those starts.
Scouting Northeastern
- Northeastern enters the weekend at 6-8-3 on the year and finished fifth in the CAA at 3-3-2.
- The Huskies have dropped five of their last six matches, and its lone win during the stretch was a 2-0 win over the Tribe.
- Following a 3-3 home draw with No. 16 James Madison on Oct. 5, the Huskies dropped three-straight matches. Most recently, NU fell to Yale, 2-1, and at Hofstra, 3-0, to close out the regular season.
- The Huskies had a six-match unbeaten streak (5-0-1) from Sept. 7 through Sept. 24, but they are just 1-6-2 over their last nine matches.
- As a team, NU averages 1.41 goals per game, while allowing 1.71 per contest.
- Freshman Timothy Ernnin led the Huskies in scoring with 15 points on six goals and three assists. He ranked fifth in the league in both points and goals and his three game-winners were second in the CAA.
- Ernnin, who scored the game-winner vs. W&M on a penalty kick, was named the CAA Rookie of the Year on Thursday and was an All-CAA Third Team pick.
- Sophomore Benjamin Klingen, who has four goals on the year, was an All-CAA Second Team honoree, while Ryan Massoud was a third-team choice.
- Junior Noah Abrams and sophomore Chandler Cree have split time in goal for the Huskies. Cree started and earned the shutout win over the Tribe. He has a goals against average of 1.61 to go with 28 saves on the year. Abrams owns a GAA of 1.64 to along with 33 saves in nine starts.
Series History: W&M vs. Northeastern
- The Tribe leads the all-time series at 8-3-5 overall, but the Huskies won the meeting earlier this season in Boston, 2-0.
- Northeastern is also 1-0 against the Tribe in the CAA Tournament, topping the Green and Gold in the 2009 CAA Semifinals, 2-1, in overtime at UNCW.
- The Green and Gold hold a 29-18 advantage in scoring in the 16 previous meetings.
- Last season, the teams played to a 2-2 draw in Williamsburg
Tribe CAA Championship History
- The Tribe owns eight CAA Tournament crowns with the most recent coming in 2017. W&M also claimed league titles in 1983, 1987, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2010.
- The Green and Gold is making its 26th CAA Championship appearance and fourth straight. W&M owns an all-time record of 33-17-1 (.657) in the event, including a 14-5-1 (.725) all-time in the quarterfinals.
- W&M is the fourth seed in the CAA Championship for the fourth time and first since 1997. The Tribe is 2-3 as the No. 4 seed and 4-1 when squaring off with the No. 5 seed.
- The No. 4 seed has won the CAA Tournament on two occasions and most recently in 2011 (Delaware).
- Prior to falling in the semifinals last season, the Tribe had reached CAA Championship match in each of its previous three appearances in the tournament (2013, 2016 and 2017).
- The Tribe takes on Northeastern for just the second time in the CAA Tournament. In the lone other meeting, the Huskies picked up a 2-1 OT win in the semifinals at UNCW.
All-CAA Awards
- A quartet of Tribe players were recognized by the CAA on Thursday. Senior
Julian Ngoh earned All-CAA Second Team honors, while junior
Sam Golan and freshman
Alfredo Bozalongo received third-team accolades.
- Both Bozalongo and fellow freshman
Alexander Levengood garnered spots on the CAA All-Rookie Team.
- Golan was selected to the All-CAA Third Team for the second time, while both Ngoh and the Bozalongo earned their first honors.
- It marks the fifth-straight year that the Tribe placed three on the All-CAA teams and the second consecutive with multiple CAA All-Rookie Team selections.
- W&M's two selections to the rookie team were tied for the most, along with Elon and UNCW, on the 10-player group.
- The Green and Gold has 54 All-CAA selections under head coach
Chris Norris and 20 CAA All-Rookie choices.
Up Next
- The victor between the Tribe and Huskies advances to Sunday's CAA Semifinals against regular season champion and top-seeded UNCW.
- Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. from UNCW Soccer Stadium.
- FloSports will have complete coverage of the 2019 CAA Men's Soccer Championship, including Friday's and Sunday's matches.
FloSports is available on computers and on mobile devices as well as Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire and other OTT platforms. The subscription-based platform is offered for as low as $7.99 per month.
- The CAA Championship match is slated for Saturday, Nov. 16, at the highest remaining seed.
