Giles Leads Tribe Past Radford

Lauren Giles scored two goals in the W&M win over the Highlanders.

09/23/07 4:30PM

Williamsburg - On the strength of two Lauren Giles’ goals, the William and Mary field hockey team downed instate foe Radford, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at Busch Field. Giles scored twice in the first half, including her first career game winner, as the Tribe rolled past the Highlanders. W&M improved to 6-3 on the season with the win, while Radford fell to 2-9.

“Overall, it was a good weekend,” head coach Peel Hawthorne said. “Lauren Giles was great and created a lot of offense for us. I was happy that we were able to try people in different positions today. It was great to see our bench contribute with Kelsey (Jackson) scoring a goal. Danielle (Scissom) did a good job of coming in at right back in the second half. Radford put some pressure on us there at the end, and it was nice to see Carrie (Thompson) come in and hold the shutout.”

The Tribe attacked early and often in the opening minutes of the contest, tacking on a trio of goals in the first 27 minutes of play. The first Tribe scoring opportunity of the contest came off the stick of senior forward Kim Hedley. Freshman Rebecca Wagner made a nice run up the right side of the field, before centering a pass to Hedley in front of the Radford cage. The preseason All-CAA pick cut the ball back to the left and swept a shot toward the far post, but RU goalkeeper Jennifer Wisniewski made the save.

The Tribe found the scoring column less than a minute later. Senior Laura Kastelic sent a pass from the left side of the area to the back post where Giles was there to punch it in. The goal came at the 5:37 mark and pushed the Tribe to a 1-0 advantage.

The Highlanders had a pair of scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes of play as well, but could not find the scoring column on either attempt. Less than three minutes into the match, Alex Wladich found Kay Tufts in the center of the area, but Tufts shot went wide right of the W&M cage. In the ninth minute of play, Stephanie Lamb sent a shot off a penalty corner wide of the left post.

W&M extended its lead to 2-0 on sophomore Kelsey Jackson’s first collegiate goal in the 18th minute of play. Hedley took the initial shot of the sequence from the right side of the circle, but Wisniewski made the kick save. The ball went out to Jackson on the right side. She drove the middle of the crease before backhanding a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper and carried into the cage for the tally.

The third W&M marker came on a nice series of passes from junior Katie Broaddus and Wagner. Broaddus drove and penetrated the left side of the circle, before centering a pass to Wagner in the crease. The W&M rookie quickly redirected the ball to Giles, who was waiting on the left post. The Williamsburg, Va., native finished into the left side of the boards for her team-leading third goal of the season. It was Wagner’s second assist in as many games.

The College made it 4-0 early in the second half, scoring off a penalty corner. Kastelic played the ball back to Kacerek, who was the stick stop on the play. She swept the ball into the right side of the cage for her second goal of the season. It was Kastelic’s second assist of the contest, bringing her season total to a team-leading four.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Carrie Thompson came on for the third time this season midway through the second-half. She made her first collegiate save in the 55th minute blocking away a deflected shot in front by Megan Longtain.

Radford’s most dangerous scoring opportunity of the game came with eight minutes remaining. McLamb had her initial shot stopped by Thompson, but the ball bounced back to McLamb, who wrapped an attempt toward the far post. Broaddus made the stick save to preserve the shutout and record the first defensive save of her W&M career.

The Tribe held a 17-7 advantage in shots, placing 12 of its attempts on goal. W&M also out-cornered Radford, 7-4. Hunter finished with one save in just over 52 minutes of action, while Thompson recorded three stops for the Tribe.

W&M will return to CAA action when it takes to the road on Friday, Sept. 28. The College will face No. 17 Blue Hens of Delaware at 7 p.m. in Newark. The Tribe will then travel to Towson, Md., to face the Tigers at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30.

Box Score