Tribe Returns Home to Face Miami (Ohio)

W&M will host the RedHawks on Saturday, Sept. 8, at 1 p.m.

09/05/07 3:15PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary field hockey team returns to the friendly confines of Busch Field to battle Miami (Ohio) in a Saturday matinee. The Tribe and RedHawks are set to meet on Sept. 8 at 1 p.m.

The match should be a back-and-forth affair given the recent history in the series. Last season, Miami (Ohio) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Oxford, Ohio, only to see the Tribe rebound to take a 3-2 advantage following a goal in the opening minutes of the season half. The RedHawks scored to force overtime, but W&M would have the last laugh, scoring just 21 seconds into the OT period for the victory.

For complete W&M field hockey notes, click HERE.

Tribe News and Notes
- The Tribe received 35 votes in the STX/NFHCA Top 20 rankings released on Sept. 4, making it the fifth team listed in the category. The 2007 slate will pit the Tribe against six of the top 11 and seven top-20 teams in the STX/NFHCA Preseason Rankings. W&M will also face six teams who are receiving votes for the poll.

- W&M has won 10 or more matches in each of the last nine seasons after compiling a 10-9 ledger last season.

- W&M has a young roster as evident by 18 players who are freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores.

- After going 6-1 in home games last season, W&M jumped out to a 2-0 record at the friendly confines of Busch Field in 2007. The Tribe is 114-49-2 (.697) all-time at Busch Field.

- W&M has scored seven of its nine goals on the season in the second half of play.

- Seven of W&M’s nine goals on the year have been scored by underclassmen (freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores).

- Four different W&M players (sophomore Kaitlin Johnson, redshirt freshman Alexis Gerber and freshmen Rebecca Wagner and Jenna Cinalli) registered their first collegiate goals in the Tribe’s opening two games.

- With her two-goal performance against Lock Haven, Rebecca Wagner became the first W&M freshman since Lianne Ligtvoet in 2000 to score two goals in one game. Ligtvoet accomplished the feat against Columbia on Oct. 13, 2000.

- W&M improved to 18-3 (.857) in home openers under head coach Peel Hawthorne with its win over Lock Haven. W&M improved to 26-6-3 (.786) in regular-season openers overall since 1973.

- Eight different Tribe players have earned their first collegiate starts in 2007. The group includes: junior Lauren Giles, sophomore Courtney Farino, redshirt freshmen Maura Checchio and Alexis Gerber and freshmen Erica Eng, Liz Loudy, Danielle Scissom and Rebecca Wagner.

Scouting Miami (Ohio)
Miami (Ohio) enters the match with the Tribe at 1-2 on the year and receiving votes in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Top-20 poll. The RedHawks own a 6-0 season-opening win over Longwood, but have dropped their last two to No. 19 Michigan State, 5-1, and No. 20 Boston University, 1-0.

The RedHawks very well could be 2-2 on the season with its match against then-No. 6 Old Dominion called after a four-hour lightning delay. Miami (Ohio) led ODU, 1-0, with 19:33 remaining in the match, but the match does not count for either team because it was not completed. Alyssa Nye had tallied the goal for MU off an assist from Danielle Gaynor against the Monarchs. RedHawk goalkeeper Megan Stengel provided a tough defensive backstop, recording eight saves.

Mary Hull leads MU in scoring with five points on two goals and an assist, while both Gaynor and Courtney Furia have four points. Furia has a pair of goals, while Gaynor has a goal and two assists. Stengel has started all three matches in net and owns a GAA of 2.57 to go along with 16 saves.

The Tribe owns a 2-0 mark all-time against the RedHawks, but this will be the first meeting between the two schools in Williamsburg. Last season, W&M tallied a 4-3 overtime victory of Miami (Ohio) thanks to a tally 21 seconds into the extra session by Gina Cimarelli. Senior Kim Hedley did her part to keep the Tribe in the game. After W&M fell behind in the opening half, 2-0, Hedley knotted things up with two consecutive goals. She also assisted on the game-winner in overtime.

Moving Up the Charts
Senior goalkeeper Gwen Hunter has been a mainstay in the cage for the Tribe during her career. She recently moved into sixth on the W&M career saves list with her 10-stop effort against then-No. 10 Iowa. She currently ranks in the top 10 in three career categories for goalkeepers. Below is a list of where Hunter ranks on the career lists:

Career Saves
Player - Seasons - Svs
4. Susan Creigh - 1982-85 - 379
5. Jen Rinella - 1993-96 - 289
6. Gwen Hunter - 2004- - 235

Career Shutouts
Player - Seasons - Sho
4. Sarah Witkowski - 1991-94 - 16
5. Claire Miller - 2000-02 - 11
6. Gwen Hunter - 2004- - 10

Career Goals Against Average
(minimum 700 minutes and two seasons)
Player - Seasons - GAA
7. Susan Creigh - 1982-85 - 1.61
8. Sarah Witkowski - 1991-94 - 1.82
9. Gwen Hunter - 2004- - 1.84

Preseason All-CAA
Senior forward Kim Hedley was named to the Preseason All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) field hockey team. Hedley was selected as one of 12 players selected to the preseason squad.

Hedley was a Second-Team All-CAA choice a season ago after leading the Tribe with nine goals. She also finished with two assists and 20 points, while starting all 19 matches for the College at the forward position. Hedley and the Tribe jumped out to a 2-0 record in the early part of the 2007 season. W&M defeated Lock Haven, 4-2, and Fairfield, 5-0, in Williamsburg on Aug. 25-26. Hedley tallied a goal in the Tribe’s victory over Lock Haven, before notching an assist in the win over Fairfield.

Wagner Named National Rookie of the Week
Freshman forward Rebecca Wagner wasted little time making an impact on the Tribe field hockey program, and reaped the rewards of both conference and national rookie of the week after the opening two game of the season. She garnered both the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week and the womensfieldhockey.com National Rookie of the Week honors, following a weekend in which she scored a trio of goals in the Tribe’s pair of season opening victories. Wagner became the first Tribe player since Shannon Karl in 2002 to take home the CAA weekly award, and the first ever to win the web site accolade for a rookie although Ann Ekberg was named the National Player of the Week by womensfieldhockey.com on Nov. 5, 2002.

In her first collegiate game against Lock Haven, Wagner scored twice in the second half, propelling the Tribe to a 4-2 victory over the defending Northeast Conference Champions and NCAA Play-in Game participants from last season. She notched her first career goal, redirecting a shot from senior Laura Kastelic into the back of the boards in the 40th minute. The Virginia Beach, Va., native scored the eventual game-winner on a rebound in the 61st minute for her second tally against Lock Haven.

She became the first W&M freshman since Lianne Ligtvoet in 2000 to score two goals in one game. Ligtvoet accomplished the feat against Columbia on Oct. 13, 2000. In the College’s 5-0 win over Fairfield on Sunday, Wagner tallied the game-winner on a pass from redshirt freshman Alexis Gerber to start the scoring in the 24th minute.