Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Illinois, William and Mary (1-3) fell to Northwestern (1-2-1) by a score of 2-1 despite a late comeback attempt in the final minute of regulation. The loss marked the third in a row for the Tribe. Sunday marked the first time these two schools had ever played, and it proved to be a hard–fought game from start to finish.
Coming off two straight losses on the road to South Carolina and Liberty, the Tribe looked to regain some confidence with a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Wildcats. Before Sunday, both teams had struggled thus far in the 2019 season. The College came into the match at 1-2 and the Wildcats at 0-2-1. Both teams looked to use Sunday in order to gain some momentum for the long season ahead. Junior defender Alex Kuhnle entered the game as the Tribe’s leading scorer with two goals on the season, but she was shut down by the stout Wildcats defense throughout the entire game. The first half started out very slowly, with neither team able to score a goal.
The Wildcats’ defensive effort was what won them the match, with them outshooting the Tribe 12-7 and limiting the College to just three corner kicks in the game. However, a six-minute stretch in the early stages of the second half proved to be pivotal for the Wildcats, with two goals in that span. First, Mikayla Hampton scored in the 48th minute off an assist from Julietta Thron and Danika Austin. Then, just six minutes later, Aurea Martin put in another goal to crush the Tribe’s spirits for good. The goal came off an assist from Madi Kennel.
However, the Tribe was not done yet. They played stout defense for the next 35-plus minutes before finally breaking through the Wildcats’ defense with a clutch goal from junior Courtney Miles with 36 seconds to play. The effort was not enough in the end, and the Wildcats came away with their first victory of the season. Miles’ goal came off her only shot of the afternoon, with an assist from junior Page Frantz.
If the Tribe continue to play like they did in the final 30 minutes on Sunday, they could find themselves on the winning side of a lot of matches. Overall, only two Tribe players had more than one shot, with junior Erin Dailey and sophomore Renee Kohler leading the way with two shots apiece.
Up next, the College will return home to host a pair of games at the end of this week. Thursday evening will see a 7 p.m. showdown between the Tribe and High Point. Subsequently, the College is set to host Fairleigh Dickinson Sunday at 1 p.m. The College looks to get back on track and set itself up for a stellar season this week with these two key matchups.