WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary filed hockey travels north for a pair of critical Colonial Athletic Association match-ups this weekend. Sitting in third place in the league standings, the Tribe looks to sew up a CAA Tournament bid as it travels to Drexel on Friday, Oct. 15, at 4 p.m. and to No. 20-ranked Delaware on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be available on FloLive.
By following this link (flosports.tv/caa), CAA fans can sign up for an annual subscription to FloSports, which remains at a reduced rate of $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month) or a discounted monthly rate of $12.50. Also, anyone who subscribes using a CAA member Institution domain (.edu) e-mail address will be eligible for a $6.99 subscription rate per month. Any subscription provides access to all content that FloSports offers.
- The Tribe (2-8, 2-1 CAA) is coming off pair of tough road losses last week to Richmond, 4-3, and Towson, 2-1, in overtime. W&M is tied for third in the CAA standings with Drexel at 2-1, while Delaware is tied for the top spot with JMU at 3-0. A win in either match would go a long way to the Green and Gold securing its sixth-straight CAA Tournament bid.
- The Tribe opened CAA play with two straight wins, knocking off Hofstra, 3-2 in a shootout, and Northeastern, 4-3. With the wins, W&M opened CAA play at 2-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
- W&M leads the all-time series with Drexel at 13-8 and has won five in a row, including a 2-1 win in Williamsburg last spring. The Tribe won the last meeting in Philadelphia by a 3-2 score in 2019.
- Drexel is 5-9 overall and 2-1 in CAA play. Most recently, the Dragons split their road trip to the northeast, falling to Northeastern, 2-1, and knocking off Hofstra, 3-2. The Dragons also won a CAA match over Towson, 4-1. Eline Di Leva leads Drexel in scoring with 16 points on six goals and four assists, while Avery Powell owns five goals and five assists. Megan Hadfield has started all 14 matches in goal for Drexel and owns a GAA of 3.10 with 82 saves.
- Delaware leads the all-time series with the Tribe at 18-10, but W&M has won two of the last three meetings. The Green and Gold picked up a 3-2 win over the No. 18 Blue Hens in the 2018 CAA title match. Last spring, W&M knocked off No. 20 Delaware, 2-0, in Williamsburg.
- The Blue Hens are 7-6 on the season and ranked No. 20 nationally. UD has won five in a row entering its matches this week against JMU and W&M. Five of UD's losses have come to nationally-ranked teams and the Blue Hens own two wins against ranked opponents, including a 4-3 2OT win at No. 9 St. Joseph's. Julia Duffhuis leads the Blue Hens and the league in goals with 10, while Shlyn Carr tops the league in assists with 10. Kiki Oudshoorn has six goals of the year for UD. Lizzie Baebel has started all 13 matches in goals and leads the CAA in GAA at 1.83 to go with two shutouts and 50 saves.
- Junior
Lauren Curran, who was named the W&M Student-Athlete of the Week presented by the Virginia Lottery on Oct. 5, leads the Tribe with 11 points on five goals and an assist. She ranks fourth in the CAA in goals per game (0.5), which is 53rd nationally, and sixth in points per game (1.12). Curran scored a goal in four straight games, finding the mark against Duke, Hofstra, Northeastern and Richmond. Her goal against Northeastern was her first career game-winner.
- Freshman
Pyper Friedman was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 4. Friedman tallied the decisive shootout conversation it the Tribe's 3-2 shootout win over Hofstra on Friday. She added her first career goal in W&M's 4-3 win over Northeastern on Sunday.
- Seven different Tribe players have scored their first collegiate goals this season, including sophomore
Jayden Moon who tallied W&M's goal at Towson. Junior
Ireland Miller (Northeastern), Friedman (Hofstra), freshmen
Kellen Richbourg (Hofstra), sophomore
Mollie Schuma (Penn State), sophomore
Maddie McGaughey (Longwood) and Curran (Longwood) all tallied their first collegiate goals in 2021.
- Sophomore goalkeeper
Maddie George has started the last six matches for W&M, including the wins over Hofstra and Northeastern. In her first start of the season, she tallied a career-high nine saves in a 2-0 setback at No. 12 Liberty on Sept. 19. In W&M's shootout win over Hofstra, George denied three Pride tries to lead the Tribe to the 3-2 win. She ranks sixth in the CAA and 62nd nationally in goals against average at 2.63 to go with 23 saves.
- The Tribe ranks 23rd nationally in defensive saves with four. Senior
Cara Menges leads the team with two, while juniors
Audrey Domovich and
Rachel Gantz each have one.
- The Tribe's 2021 schedule is loaded with nationally-ranked competition. W&M has already faced No. 8 Virginia, No. 12 Liberty, No. 16 Penn State and No. 18 Duke. The Tribe has three remaining contests against nationally-ranked foes in No. 14 Virginia (Oct. 20), No. 18 Old Dominion (Oct. 24) and No. 20 Delaware (Oct. 17). In total, the Tribe's non-conference schedules features six of nine matches against nationally-ranked competition.
