WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—William & Mary (1-2-1) men's soccer begins conference play Saturday night with a trip to Delaware (3-0-1). The match between the Tribe and the Blue Hens is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on FloFC.
TRIBE NOTES
Last Time Out:
W&M earned a draw against Longwood on the road Thursday by a score of 1-1. Both of the game's goals came in the blink of an eye. Longwood struck in the first 40 seconds followed by a Tribe answer in the 2
nd minute from
Alfredo Bozalongo. The grad student received a perfectly played cross from
Ian Krajna and finished off the play for his second goal of the year. The assist was Krajna's first of his career.
Conference Slate:
The Tribe will play a total of eight CAA games starting with the opener at Drexel. The other in-conference road contests for W&M include trips to Hofstra, UNCW and Campbell. The Tribe's CAA home games are against Northeastern, Drexel, Charleston and Stony Brook. The remaining schedule for the Green and Gold includes some non-conference games sprinkled in, most notably trips to ACC opponents Virginia Tech (Oct. 10) and North Carolina (Oct. 17).
Pre-conference Prognostications:
William & Mary found themselves in the middle of the pack, selected sixth of 11 teams, when the preseason CAA poll was released in August. Hofstra was selected as the conference's preseason favorite with 9 of the 11 first place votes. Elon and UNCW were selected second and third respectively, earning one first place vote apiece. Delaware was picked to finish ninth.
Mixed Bag:
The Tribe have had mixed results in their CAA openers recently. W&M are 1-2-3 in conference lid lifters dating back to 2017. This season marks back-to-back years that the Tribe has opened up conference play on the road after a loss at Drexel to get things going in 2022. Prior to last year, W&M had played four consecutive CAA openers at home. The last time the Tribe opened up conference play at Delaware was in 2016.
Series History:
The Blue Hens and Tribe will meet for the 27
th time in history on Saturday night. William & Mary holds a commanding 18-7-2 lead in the series that dates to 1987. The team's got together almost exactly a year ago on Sept. 10 in Williamsburg where the Tribe secured a 2-1 win, Bozalongo picked up an assist in that match. The upcoming game is the 13
th time the Tribe have played on the road against the Blue Hens. They hold a 8-3-1 record in those games.
Scouting the Blue Hens:
Delaware enters Saturday's match unbeaten at 3-0-1 coming off a win against Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday. They have already opened CAA play, drawing Campbell a week ago. The Blue Hens also picked up a non-conference win against Rutgers to open the season. Eddie DeMarco has played every minute in goal for the Blue Hens and has picked up nine saves. Sam Donnellan leads Delaware with three goals and an assist on the year. Carlos Fernandez also has scored two goals.
