The William & Mary field hockey team picked up its first comeback-win of the season on Sunday, scoring three unanswered to beat Vermont, 3-1, at Busch Field. The Tribe improved to 3-4 on the year with its second-straight win, while the Catamounts fell to 4-5 overall.
How it Happened
- The first quarter was played very evenly between the two teams, with Vermont holding a slight 4-3 edge in shots. The defenses of both teams were up to the task, however, and kept the score 0-0 through the first 15 minutes, including a pair of saves for W&M sophomore
Kimi Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.). Near the end of the period, the Tribe had one of the best chances on a long breakaway pass, but the Catamounts goalkeeper was able to guide the ball away from
Caitlin Maclean (Devizes, Wiltshire, England) before she could get a shot off.
- W&M turned up the offensive pressure early in the second quarter, with four shots and a penalty corner in the first four minutes, but all four attempts either went wide or were blocked before they reached the goal.
- The Catamounts took the lead early in the 22nd minute, as Claudia Cotter drove in along the baseline and then flipped a little pass to Sydney Melfi in a scrum right in front for the touch into the goal.
- Vermont kept the pressure on, earning its first corner in the 25th minute, but after their shot sailed wide, W&M raced up the field on the counter and tied the match just 24 seconds later. Senior
Annie Snead (Midlothian, Va.) carried across midfield and found junior
Ella Donahue (Midlothian, Va.). Donahue spun at the dots and served the ball into the circle, where freshman
Lily Saunders (Mount Joy, Pa.) smacked it on and into the goal for her first career score and to tie the score, 1-1.
- Coming out of halftime, W&M kept pushing, and was rewarded with two more goals. In the 39th minute, sophomore captain
Cara Menges (Midlothian, Va.) got in the circle high on one side and struck a reverse shot towards the far post. It looked like it would go wide, but junior
Haley Hopkins (Springfield, Va.) was there to get a stick on it and redirect it behind the goalkeeper and into goal to go up, 2-1.
- Just three minutes later, W&M drew another penalty corner, and scored to go up 3-1. Freshman
Sally Snead (Midlothian, Va.) started the play, sending the insertion up to her classmate
Tabby Billingham (Dallinghoo, Suffolk, England). Billingham provided the set, and junior
Melanie Strik (Den Haag, The Netherlands) connected on a powerful shot that blew by the defense and into the goal for her first of the season.
- That's where the score stayed, despite the Tribe peppering the Vermont goal with eight more shots in the fourth quarter alone, compared to just two for the Catamounts, both blocked by the W&M defense.
Starters
W&M -
Kimi Jones,
Haley Hopkins,
Annie Snead,
Ella Donahue,
Tabby Billingham,
Christie van de Kamp,
Caitlin Maclean,
Cara Menges,
Woodard Hooper,
Cassidy Goodwin,
Ashley Drum
UVM - Sierra Espeland, Sydney Melfi, Clare Sheahan, Claudia Cotter, Kate Hall, Pleun Haantjes, Peppe Haantjes, Bailey Matthews, Sophia Cheever, Clodagh Ferry, Haley Buffenbarger
Notes
In addition to Saunders scoring her first career goal, Billingham and Snead each scored their first career points with assists ... W&M out-shot Vermont 25-9, including 22-5 over the final three quarters ... Menges and
Woodard Hooper (Williamsburg, Va.) both had a game-high five shots, while Menges and Strik each had three shots on-goal ... Hopkins scored for the second game in a row, the second time in her career, and both goals were game-winners ... Jones was credited with the win with two saves, while senior
Morgan Connor (Bedford, N.Y.) played the final 15 minutes and was not tested.
Up Next
William & Mary continues its season-long homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 1, hosting Longwood at 6 p.m.
