For Gwen Doughty, William & Mary has always been part of the family.

Her mother played soccer for the Tribe. Her father competed in track and field. Her older sister, Zoe, played goalkeeper for William & Mary.

So naturally, when it came time for Doughty to choose where she wanted to play college soccer, she tried looking somewhere else.

"I think it's funny because everyone kind of assumes that I just wanted to go to William & Mary right off the bat because of everybody who went here, and it wasn't exactly like that," Doughty said.

The Woodbridge, Va., native wanted to make her own decision and create an experience separate from those who came before her. But as Doughty went through the recruiting process, visiting academically strong schools with similar qualities to William & Mary, she noticed a pattern.

Everywhere she went, she was comparing it to W&M.

"I had a conversation with my parents that if I'm trying to find William & Mary somewhere else, why not just go to the actual place?" Doughty said.

Two years later, Doughty is doing more than following a familiar path.

She is making it her own.

A Family Tradition

The connections run deep.

Doughty's mother, Marcy League, played soccer at William & Mary, while her father, Baker Doughty, competed in the javelin for the Tribe track and field program. Her sister, Zoe, followed their parents to Williamsburg and played goalkeeper for W&M before later serving on the coaching staff.

Growing up surrounded by stories about William & Mary gave the younger Doughty an early glimpse of what the school meant to her family.

"I would hear all their fun stories about college, and I would see how my sister was going through it," Doughty said. "William & Mary was a big part of that. It wasn't just any college."

Still, Doughty was determined to make the recruiting process her own.

She admits having her parents and sister attend W&M was both a positive and a negative on the pros-and-cons list she made while deciding on a school. She loved the connection but wondered whether choosing William & Mary would simply be viewed as following in her family's footsteps.

Eventually, everything else outweighed that concern.

"I had a billion pros," Doughty said. "I loved it so much."

More importantly, it was her choice.

"It definitely influenced it a lot, but I also think I did a pretty good job of making it my own decision," Doughty said. "I'm pretty happy with how I made the decision."

Making Her Mark

Doughty did not have to wait long to begin establishing an identity of her own.

As a freshman in 2025, she appeared in all 18 matches and made 17 starts in goal. She posted a 7-7-4 record, made a team-high 59 saves and recorded five shutouts while finishing the year with a 1.16 goals-against average.

Her debut season earned Doughty a spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team along with a CAA Rookie of the Week honor.

For all the adjustment that comes with moving from high school to Division I soccer, Doughty said she felt comfortable quickly because of the environment surrounding her.

"Honestly, I felt like I belonged kind of right off the bat just because of the community that our coaches have made on our team," Doughty said. "Our team is completely welcoming to new freshmen and new players."

The position itself presented another challenge.

Goalkeepers can spend stretches of a match without touching the ball before suddenly being asked to make a split-second decision. Doughty admits mastering that mental component has been one of the more difficult parts of her development.

"Goalkeeping is definitely a very difficult position mentally and physically," she said. "I would say the mental part has been one of my harder things to master."

Communication has helped her remain engaged, as has knowing she is never actually alone in goal.

"It's a tough position, but I have 10 other players on the field supporting me, and everyone else on the team is supporting me," Doughty said. "I've made so many improvements in college by having the coaches have my back and having my teammates have my back."

Doughty has continued to build on her freshman campaign this fall. Through five appearances, she has played 270 minutes and made 16 saves. She started and played all 90 minutes against VCU on Senior Day, making six saves to tie her career high in the Tribe's 2-2 draw.

More Than a Goalkeeper

That emphasis on the mental side of athletics extends beyond what Doughty experiences between the posts.

Before arriving in Williamsburg, she served as an ambassador and co-president for Morgan's Message in high school, supporting the organization's mission of raising awareness surrounding mental health among student-athletes.

It remains an issue that matters to her.

"I think mental health has been overlooked a lot in the past, and recognizing it and realizing it has been really important," Doughty said. "Some people don't like to talk about it, but I think talking about it is very important, and it helps a lot of athletes."

Doughty's involvement in leadership and community outreach has also helped her develop skills she uses in goal.

Communication is essential for a goalkeeper, and she sees a connection between being willing to lead on the field and doing the same away from it.

"I completely grew in my leadership on and off the field," Doughty said. "I think that helped me take the skills I had on the field and show them in the classroom and in the community."

That balance extends to academics.

Doughty graduated summa cum laude from Woodbridge High School and was a member of the National Honor Society and French Honor Society. She admits William & Mary's academic reputation made her nervous when she arrived, but advice from her teammates changed her perspective.

They reminded her she had been balancing school and soccer her entire life.

"It's not something you haven't done before," Doughty recalled her teammates telling her. "You've been doing it your whole life. You've been balancing soccer and school."

Her Own William & Mary Experience

There are still moments when Doughty is reminded just how closely her experience mirrors those of her family.

Her parents will tell stories from their time in Williamsburg, only for Doughty to realize she has experienced her own version decades later.

"I think it's really funny that we're having a very similar college experience 30 years later," Doughty said. "It's great to hear some of their stories and be like, 'Oh, I kind of did a parallel of that.'"

Zoe's experience is recent enough that the comparisons can be a little more direct.

And sometimes, they produce a little sibling jealousy.

After seeing the program's newer facilities and hearing about her sister living in a new residence hall, Zoe has a familiar response for Gwen.

"Well, we didn't have that," Gwen recalled her sister telling her.

Her response?

"Well, I'm sorry."

The sisters were competitive growing up, particularly when training together. Doughty said their relationship became even closer after Zoe left for college.

Now, they have played the same position at the same school, while doing it in their own ways.

"We're doing very similar things, but she's completely different than I am," Doughty said. "We kind of do the same things but in our own way."

That could just as easily describe Gwen's relationship with the rest of her family.

The school is the same. The green and gold are the same. Many of the traditions are the same.

But the experience belongs to her.

"I still get to have my own experiences," Doughty said.