Friday, William and Mary hit the road to play Colonial Athletic Association opponent Northeastern to open its conference play. The Tribe (5-4, 2-0 CAA) secured a 3-2 victory over the Huskies (2-8, 0-1 CAA).
Freshman goalkeeper Kimi Jones started in goal for the Tribe. Working in conjunction with the defense, she stood firmly against the first six shots by the Huskies.
In the 20th minute, the Huskies found the back of the cage after forward Kellie Stigas’ pass broke through the defense and flew to midfielder Lexie Dunleavy.
Within the next two minutes, the Huskies earned another opportunity, which they capitalized on when leading scorer forward June Curry-Lindahl dribbled through the defense and connected with the back of the cage.
Nevertheless, Jones continued to protect the goal and deflected a pass to end an opposing attack in the 24th minute. Shortly after, the defensive line expertly defended two penalty corners in the final 10 minutes of the half.
In the final 60 seconds, the College broke through on the attack and cut the Huskies’ lead in half. Sophomore midfielder Caitlin Maclean slid a pass through the defensive line and connected with senior midfielder Estelle Hughes, who propelled the shot up and over the goalkeeper for her conference-leading eighth goal of the year.
Entering the second half, the College carried the momentum and scored in the 39th minute to equal the score. Freshman midfielder Cara Menges added her second goal of the season to the scoreboard to level the playing field.
The teams continued to rally for the next 30 minutes. The Tribe’s defense was faced with a total of seven penalty corners while the offense earned a few breakaways but was unable to find the back of the cage.
Regulation play ended in a tie. As the match moved into overtime, possession swayed between the two teams around midfield. The Huskies earned the first glimpse at an overtime goal in the 72nd minute. This proved to be their only look at goal.
Play then shifted to the opposite end of the field, where Hughes had a promising shot, but it was knocked away by goalkeeper Julia Gluyas.
Less than half a minute later, the Tribe put away its third and final goal of the match when Menges stole the ball from a Huskies defender before driving the ball to the near post and connecting with the back of the cage.
The College continued to find success on the road against Hofstra Sunday. It walked away with its second conference victory against the Pride (3-10, 1-1 CAA) with a score of 1-0.
The Tribe came out strong with freshman midfielder Jorja Morgan opening the game with her first shot with less than 90 seconds on the clock.
Exactly five minutes into the game, the Tribe put up the first and only goal of the night. Hughes passed the ball to junior forward Woodard Hooper, who buried the ball behind Pride goalkeeper Better Bosma to tally her third goal of the season.
The Tribe’s offense continued to dominate, out-shooting the Pride 13-1 in the first half and 10-2 in the second. Bosma made a total of eight saves for the Pride.
Hughes and Menges led the Tribe with five shots apiece while Hooper and Morgan each contributed another four. Jones only needed to make one save during the game; this match marked her third win overall and her first shutout of the season.
Looking ahead, the Tribe will host Towson at Busch Field at 7 p.m. Oct. 5, where it will look to improve its conference record to 3-0.