TRIBE 0, DUKE 1
The College of William and Mary’s NCAA Tournament appearance was much like its entire season: Exhilarating, frustrating and over much too quickly.
After beating the University of South Carolina Friday 3-2 in overtime, coming back twice to tie the game in regulation, the Tribe fell to Duke University 1-0 Sunday.
The Tribe started slow Sunday as it has done all season. The Blue Devils dominated the stat sheet in the first half, firing off 13 shots to the Tribe’s three. Senior goalkeeper Meghan Walker thwarted the first three Blue Devil attempts on her way to becoming second all-time at the College in saves, but the fourth shot by forward KayAnne Gummersall found its way into the back of the net.
“I didn’t think we played as well in the first half,” Head Coach John Daly said. “We gave them way too much respect and allowed them to do what they wanted with the ball, and we didn’t keep the ball that well.”
The College’s last shot came in the 76th minute when Duke goalkeeper Cassidy Powers stopped a ball by junior midfielder Krissy Vornadore, preserving the shutout and knocking the Tribe out of the tournament.
TRIBE 3, SOUTH CAROLINA 2
It was quite a different mood for the Tribe Friday night when senior forward Claire Zimmeck led a comeback in the final minutes of regulation and scored the first goal of overtime to beat the Gamecock’s 3-2.
Zimmeck’s goal was assisted by fellow senior Dani Collins, who headed the ball to her teammate on the endline.
“I can only remember up to the part where Dani headed it, and then I was, I guess, pretty high on the endline, and the keeper started coming out,” Zimmeck said. “I didn’t really see her until after I headed it, and she wasn’t there, so it was great.”
The Tribe’s seniors were the driving force behind the College’s win. Collins scored the game’s first goal off an assist from senior back Abby Lauer, who assisted on Zimmeck’s goal in the 78th minute that evened the score at 2-2.
“I’m so proud of our team and what they did tonight,” Daly said. “We came out in the second half, and I think we were the better team. We had so much momentum in the final 15 minutes. I just told them to keep playing hard and that we could win the game.”
The only negative for the Tribe was its inability to start quickly, something that came back to haunt the team.
“In a few games this year we played extremely well for 45 minutes,” Daly said. “The further you get along and the higher up the ladder you go, you can’t do that. You have to play for 90 minutes, you can’t play for 45 [minutes].”
