WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's soccer team opens a two-game homestand against High Point and Fairleigh Dickinson this weekend. The Tribe plays host to the Panthers on Thursday, Sept. 5 before welcoming the Knights on Sunday, Sept. 8. Kickoffs are set for 4 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
Hear from head coach
Julie Shackford as she recaps last week's games, returning home, and the balanced attack her team has produced this season. The weekly video preview is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
William & Mary looks to return to the win column as it returns home for a pair of games this weekend. The Tribe has lost three straight games to nationally ranked South Carolina (0-3), Liberty (2-4), and Northwestern (1-2). Junior
Alex Kuhnle leads the Tribe with two goals and four points this season. Meanwhile, four different players – Kuhnle, redshirt senior
Sarah Segan, junior
Courtney Miles, and freshman
Kayleigh Shackford – have all scored goals this season. In goal, both senior
Katelyn Briguglio and sophomore
Maisy Fling have each started two games this season, and played in three games. Fling, who has started the last two games, owns a 1.77 goals-against-average and five saves. Briguglio, who started the first two games, has posted a 2.61 goals-against-average, 10 saves, and a shutout.
Scouting the Panthers
High Point (1-3) comes to town on Thursday night looking to make it two in a row. The Panthers picked up its first win of the season on Monday night against UNCG, 2-1. Kyle Levesque and Chole Le Franc have accounted for HPU's two goals this season. In goal, Talia Klimes and Morgan Hairston have both seen action. Klimes has started all four contests, posting a 1.57 goals-against-average, and 20 saves, while Hairston has come on in relief once, making a stop.
Scouting the Knights
Fairleigh Dickinson (1-1-2) comes to Williamsburg as it concludes the weekend in the Colonial Capitol after a home match against Monmouth on Friday night. The Knights are riding a two-match unbeaten streak after tying both Lehigh (1-1) and Rider (0-0) this past weekend. Sofie Albertsson (two goals) and Lea Egner (one goal, two assists) lead FDU with four points apiece. Seven different Knights have recorded goals this season. Amanda Fitzgerald and Cassandra Marcoux have both seen action in goal this year. Fitzgerald has started all four games and owns a 1.22 goals-against-average, 14 saves, and shutout, while Marcoux has appeared as a reserve in one game.
Series History vs. High Point
W&M and High Point meet for just the third time in series history on Thursday night. Both teams have split the previous two meetings, which dates back to 2013. In the last meeting in 2016, High Point rallied from a two-goal deficit and won 3-2 at Martin Family Stadium.
Series History vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
The Tribe will then meet the Knights on Sunday for just the second time in program history. W&M leads the all-time series 1-0 after picking up a 3-2 victory in 2017 in the only other meeting.
What's Ahead
The Tribe embarks on it's longest road swing of the season following this weekend. The four-game swing starts next week as W&M takes on a pair of in-state rivals. The Green and Gold heads to nationally-ranked Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 12, before heading to Old Dominion on Sunday, Sept. 15. Kickoffs are slated for 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
Balanced Attack
After having 11 goal scorers in the 2018 season, the Tribe is off to a similar start in 2019. The Tribe has had four –
Alex Kuhnle,
Sarah Segan,
Kayleigh Shackford, and
Courtney Miles – different goal scorers this season. Kuhnle is the only player to score two goals this year.
Second Half Success
A season ago, W&M made its living on scoring goals in the second half of games (13 of 18). In 2019, that trend seems to be the same as the Green and Gold scored all five of its goals this year in the second 45 minutes.
Experienced Lineup
W&M returns nine starters from last year's team, as well as a handful of starters that made spot starts and played valuable minutes last season. The Tribe also returns 72.2-percent of its goal-scoring, 85.7-percent of its assists, 76-percent of its points, and 88-percent of its minutes played in goal from a season ago.
Segan Tabbed to Preseason All-CAA Team
Redshirt senior
Sarah Segan was named to the Preseason All-CAA Soccer Team. Segan is the Tribe's returning leading scorer and coming off of a First-Team All-CAA selection in 2018. She finished last year with six goals, four assists, and 16 points starting 16 of the Tribe's 17 matches. For her career, Segan has appeared in 50 matches with 48 starts, scoring 24 goals, 10 assists, and 58 points. The Fogelsville, Pa. native has earned four all-conference postseason honors as she has been named to the All-CAA First-Team, All-CAA Second-Team twice, and picked up an all-rookie nod after her freshman season.
Selected Sixth
The William & Mary women's soccer team was selected to finish sixth in the Preseason CAA Poll. Defending CAA Tournament Champion Hofstra (78 points, seven first-place votes) was picked to reclaim its title while defending regular-season champ James Madison (74 points, three first-place votes) was tabbed second. Northeastern (third, 67 points), Charleston (fourth, 52), and Drexel (fifth, 47 points) are the teams ahead of the Tribe. Delaware (seventh, 34 points), UNCW (eighth, 32 points), Elon (ninth, 16 points), and Towson (10th, 10 points) round out the preseason poll.
Bleeding Green and Gold
Three of W&M's freshmen are following in their mother's footsteps as members of the Tribe women's soccer program.
Kayleigh Shackford whose mom, Julie, played from 1984-87 and is the current head coach,
Jillian O'Toole whose mom, Nancy, played for the Tribe from 1984-87, and
Zoe Doughty whose mom, Margaret League, played 1992-96.
The family connections just stop with Tribe women's soccer. Sophomore
Addie Puskar parents and grandparents, and six other uncles, aunts, or cousins that attended W&M. Freshman
Emily Crocco's father, Gary, was a two-sport athlete (football and baseball) for the Tribe, while her uncles Dave and Steve Wiley, were on the football team, and her aunts, Jennifer (Volgenau) Wiley and Sofia (Cedergreen) Wiley were women's soccer players. Senior
Hannah Keith's father, Barry, is a member of the class of '92, freshman
Caroline Monahan's aunt is a member of the class of 1983, redshirt junior
Lauren Kelly's brother, Colin, was a member of the class of 2016, and
Mariana Hershner's uncle, Ron, is a member of the class of 1971
New Kids on the Block
W&M welcomes eight true freshmen and a transfer to their roster for the 2019 season.
Laurel Hagen,
Emily Crocco,
Kayleigh Shackford,
Jillian O'Toole,
Madeleine Hayes,
Sophie Geslao,
Zoe Doughty, and
Shelby Hachtel are all true freshman, while sophomore
Hannah Potter joins the Tribe as a transfer from Kentucky.
Setting the Slate
W&M will play an 18-game schedule in the 2019 season. The 18-game slate features five games against 2018 NCAA Tournament teams and seven home games at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.
