Seniors
Ashley Drum (Virginia Beach, Va.) and
Melanie Strik (Den Haag, The Netherlands) celebrated Senior Day in grand fashion with goals to lead William & Mary field hockey to a 2-0 upset of No. 20-ranked Delaware on Sunday afternoon at Busch Field. With the win, the Tribe improved to 3-1 on the year and 3-1 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Blue Hens fell to 2-2 (1-1 CAA) with their first regular-season loss in conference play since 2015.
With the victory, William & Mary also completed its home schedule undefeated at 3-0. This is the first unbeaten home schedule ever at Busch Field (which opened in the fall of 1989) for W&M, and the first for the Tribe on any field since the 1980 team went 5-0-1 at home. The last undefeated home schedule before this season was in 1979, when the Tribe went 9-0 in Williamsburg.
Prior to the start, the Tribe honored its senior class of
Ella Donahue (Midlothian, Va.), Drum,
Haley Hopkins (Springfield, Va.),
Caitlin Maclean (Devizes, Wiltshire, England), and Strik for their contributions to the Green & Gold program. Over their four years, W&M has gone 40-23 and 17-5 in the CAA, with two appearances in the CAA Championship game, the first conference championship in school history in 2018, and a win in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Drum scored just four minutes into the game, following up on a series of three shots off a penalty corner. Strik's initial shot from the top of the circle was saved on a nice sprawling stop by Delaware goalkeeper Lizzie Gaebel, and sophomore
Sally Snead (Midlothian, Va.) followed the rebound, but her shot to the near post was cleared off the line by the UD defense. The second rebound spilled over to Drum alone on the back post and she pushed it across to give W&M the 1-0 lead.
Delaware's best chance of the opening half came three minutes before the intermission. The Tribe denied an initial penalty corner opportunity from the Blue Hens, including
Kimi Jones's (Virginia Beach, Va.) second save of the half. On the ensuing sequence, a turnover gave UD another quality look but this time Emma Gladstein's wrap around shot from the left side hit off the crossbar.
Strik added a penalty stroke goal just 37 seconds into the second half to double the Tribe lead. Hopkins carried into the attacking third and played the ball forward to Strik inside the circle. The goalkeeper came off her line and tackled Strik hard as she was shooting, leading to an immediate whistle from the referee and a stroke was awarded. Strik finished off the chance for her first goal of the year, and the 2-0 advantage.
Delaware kept pressing, looking to get on the board, but freshman
Maddie George (Virginia Beach, Va.), on in relief of Jones for the second half, and the Tribe defense remained stout, stopping or redirecting enough to keep the ball away from the goal. W&M nearly added a third goal with just over a minute remaining. Strik played a nice counter attacking ball from the left side of midfield, setting up Drum 1v1 with the goalkeeper who charged off her line and was able to get enough on the ball to force Drum's shot wide.
Starters
W&M -
Kimi Jones (GK),
Audrey Domovich,
Sally Snead,
Grace Cornbrooks,
Haley Hopkins,
Melanie Strik,
Ella Donahue,
Tabby Billingham,
Cara Menges,
Ashley Drum,
Lauren Curran
UD - Lizzie Gaebel (GK), Kathryn Hoffman, Grace Miller, Sarah Iannuzzi, Martina Carrazzoni, Emma Gladstein, Berber Bakermans, Julia Duffhuis, Morgan Rigual, Grace Hoepfner, Ashlyn Carr
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe out=shot Delaware 15-11 on the afternoon, including 9-2 in shots on goal.
- Both teams generated five penalty corners apiece.
- The Tribe defense earned its second-straight shutout and has allowed just one goal in the last 180 minutes.
Notes
Senior
Ashley Drum scored her fourth career goal and second of the season in the first quarter ... Both of Drum's goals in 2021 have been game-winners ... Senior
Melanie Strik scored her first goal of the year and the ninth of her career … It also marked her first career penalty-stroke goal ... Junior
Kimi Jones played the opening 30 minutes and did not allow a goal while making two saves.
Up Next
The Tribe closes out the regular season when it travels to Northeastern on Friday, April 16. The contest carries a 3 p.m. start time.
