Friday, Aug. 25, William and Mary field hockey (0-1) fell to James Madison (1-1) 4-2 in the team’s season opener at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Va.
The Dukes wasted no time in the opening minutes of the game, launching an offensive attack off a Tribe turnover that ended with a goal by senior midfielder/forward Mia Julian. The assist on the goal came from Dukes senior forward Tori Carawan.
The remainder of the first half became a battle of the defenses as neither team added any goals to the scoreboard. However, the Tribe recorded six shots on goal and had six penalty corners in the period, an encouraging sign going into the second half.
Shortly after the halftime break, Carawan widened the Dukes’ lead with an unassisted goal at the 31 minute, seven second mark. Later in the quarter, freshman defender Azul Covarrubias tacked on another goal off a penalty corner to increase James Madison’s lead to 3-0. Julian and senior midfielder/defender Carissa Tambroni received credit for the assist.
After going 38 minutes without a goal, Tribe senior midfielder Jayden Moon responded to Covarrubias’ goal with a score of her own just 15 seconds later.
Covarrubias sealed the deal with her second goal for the Dukes in the 54th minute, with Julian and Tambroni both receiving credit for the assist again.
A late Tribe goal from graduate student midfielder/forward Lauren Curran off a penalty corner assisted by Moon proved to be too little too late, resulting in a Tribe loss of 4-2.
Though the home team struggled to get the ball in the goal, the game’s stat line was encouraging for the Tribe. William and Mary held a 24-10 advantage in shots, including 18 shots on goal. Additionally, the Tribe had 11 penalty corners, compared to three for the Dukes.
Moon was efficient on offense, putting both her shots on goal, scoring one and recording an assist. Curran led the Tribe charge on offense, recording 13 shots, including 10 on goal. Curran’s performance marks the second most shots by an individual in school history and the most for a Colonial Athletic Association Player since 2017.
William and Mary will travel to Winston-Salem, NC to take on No. 12 Wake Forest on Friday, Sept. 1 at 5 p.m.
