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The No. 21 William and Mary field hockey team hosts two conference foes this weekend with huge implications for the CAA Tournament at stake. On Friday, the Tribe will host No. 18 Drexel at 7 p.m., before taking on Towson Sunday at 1 p.m.
Live Stats
Scouting the Tribe
W&M split its two matches last week to improve to 9-3 overall, and 2-1 in CAA play. Senior captain Christine Johnson (Williamsburg, Va.) had a goal and an assist on the week, improving her team-leading total to 18 points on seven goals and four assists. Sophomore Emma Clifton (Loomberah, NSW) had a big night in the 4-0 shutout of Delaware, scoring two goals and an assist to lift her season-total to six goals and four helpers.
Scouting the Dragons
Drexel is also 9-3 overall, and currently undefeated in the league at 2-0. The Dragons are being led by reigning CAA Player of the Week Amanda Fleischut, with six goals and five assists, while Lindsay McCardle is close behind with six goals and three assists. Jantien Gunter has played every minute in goal, with a 1.24 GAA and four shutouts to her credit.
Scouting the Tigers
Towson has struggled this season with an 0-11 record (0-2 CAA), but as they say a cornered Tiger is a dangerous Tiger. Towson's top offensive scorer so far this year has been Courtney Branco, with five goals and two assists, and Heather Jenney has also scored four with one assist. On defense, Tashani Dickson is allowing nearly five goals per game, while making more than seven saves per contest.
The Series
The Tribe is 7-5 all-time against Drexel, but all five losses have come in the last five match-ups. The last meeting in Williamsburg was in 2009, a 2-1 Drexel win. Against Towson, W&M has a commanding 16-3 lead in the series. The Tigers have won three of the last five, however, including 3-2 in Williamsburg in 2010.
News and Notes
- With wins over both Towson and Drexel this weekend, W&M can clinch a spot in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. Also, with ODU (currently 3-0 in the league) ineligible for the tournament, the Tribe, Drexel, Northeastern, and James Madison are all currently in the mix for hosting the championships on Nov. 1-4. Only Northeastern and W&M have played each other (or ODU) so far, and all are within one game of each other in the standings.
- Pip Saunders was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 2, after scoring a goal and an assist over the weekend. She helped on the first of Emma Clifton's two goals against Delaware on Friday night, and then scored the then-tying goal against Richmond on Sunday.
- W&M has opened conference play against Northeastern every year since 2007, a six-year span that is the longest such-streak in school history. The Tribe played Radford four years in a row from 1985-88, and VCU four years as well from 1991-94. The six times playing the Huskies in the conference opener is also second-most overall, behind only the seven times that W&M has taken on VCU.
- By splitting the first conference weekend, the Tribe has opened league play at 1-1 or better 26 times in 28 years. The shutout over Hofstra also improved W&M to 7-2 all-time after losing its conference opener.
- One more win will clinch a winning season for the Tribe for the first time since 2006. In the 40 years since 1973, W&M has had a .500 or better record 27 times so far.
- The 4-0 win over Delaware was the fifth shutout of the year for W&M. The last time the Tribe had four shutouts or more was 2006, when W&M carried six blank-sheets.
- The Tribe swept the CAA weekly awards on Sept. 18, with senior captain Maria Caro sharing Player of the Week honors and redshirt-freshman Cate Johnson being named Rookie of the Week. Caro scored two game-winning goals, against Miami and then-No. 11 Boston University, while Johnson was credited with the win in both matches and stopped 92.9% of the shots made against her.
- Christine Johnson was named the CAA co-Player of the Week on Aug. 28, after scoring four goals and a defensive save to lead her team to a 5-1 win over Davidson. Johnson is the seventh player in school history to score four goals in a single game, and the first since Katie Silverthorne '02 in 2001. She is the first Tribe player to be named the conference Player of the Week since October of 2007.
Live Stats
Scouting the Tribe
W&M split its two matches last week to improve to 9-3 overall, and 2-1 in CAA play. Senior captain Christine Johnson (Williamsburg, Va.) had a goal and an assist on the week, improving her team-leading total to 18 points on seven goals and four assists. Sophomore Emma Clifton (Loomberah, NSW) had a big night in the 4-0 shutout of Delaware, scoring two goals and an assist to lift her season-total to six goals and four helpers.
Scouting the Dragons
Drexel is also 9-3 overall, and currently undefeated in the league at 2-0. The Dragons are being led by reigning CAA Player of the Week Amanda Fleischut, with six goals and five assists, while Lindsay McCardle is close behind with six goals and three assists. Jantien Gunter has played every minute in goal, with a 1.24 GAA and four shutouts to her credit.
Scouting the Tigers
Towson has struggled this season with an 0-11 record (0-2 CAA), but as they say a cornered Tiger is a dangerous Tiger. Towson's top offensive scorer so far this year has been Courtney Branco, with five goals and two assists, and Heather Jenney has also scored four with one assist. On defense, Tashani Dickson is allowing nearly five goals per game, while making more than seven saves per contest.
The Series
The Tribe is 7-5 all-time against Drexel, but all five losses have come in the last five match-ups. The last meeting in Williamsburg was in 2009, a 2-1 Drexel win. Against Towson, W&M has a commanding 16-3 lead in the series. The Tigers have won three of the last five, however, including 3-2 in Williamsburg in 2010.
News and Notes
- With wins over both Towson and Drexel this weekend, W&M can clinch a spot in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. Also, with ODU (currently 3-0 in the league) ineligible for the tournament, the Tribe, Drexel, Northeastern, and James Madison are all currently in the mix for hosting the championships on Nov. 1-4. Only Northeastern and W&M have played each other (or ODU) so far, and all are within one game of each other in the standings.
- Pip Saunders was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 2, after scoring a goal and an assist over the weekend. She helped on the first of Emma Clifton's two goals against Delaware on Friday night, and then scored the then-tying goal against Richmond on Sunday.
- W&M has opened conference play against Northeastern every year since 2007, a six-year span that is the longest such-streak in school history. The Tribe played Radford four years in a row from 1985-88, and VCU four years as well from 1991-94. The six times playing the Huskies in the conference opener is also second-most overall, behind only the seven times that W&M has taken on VCU.
- By splitting the first conference weekend, the Tribe has opened league play at 1-1 or better 26 times in 28 years. The shutout over Hofstra also improved W&M to 7-2 all-time after losing its conference opener.
- One more win will clinch a winning season for the Tribe for the first time since 2006. In the 40 years since 1973, W&M has had a .500 or better record 27 times so far.
- The 4-0 win over Delaware was the fifth shutout of the year for W&M. The last time the Tribe had four shutouts or more was 2006, when W&M carried six blank-sheets.
- The Tribe swept the CAA weekly awards on Sept. 18, with senior captain Maria Caro sharing Player of the Week honors and redshirt-freshman Cate Johnson being named Rookie of the Week. Caro scored two game-winning goals, against Miami and then-No. 11 Boston University, while Johnson was credited with the win in both matches and stopped 92.9% of the shots made against her.
- Christine Johnson was named the CAA co-Player of the Week on Aug. 28, after scoring four goals and a defensive save to lead her team to a 5-1 win over Davidson. Johnson is the seventh player in school history to score four goals in a single game, and the first since Katie Silverthorne '02 in 2001. She is the first Tribe player to be named the conference Player of the Week since October of 2007.
