William and Mary withstood six shots on goal from UNC-Wilmington and managed to hold on to a 1-0 lead Saturday night to snap a two-game losing streak and win its conference opener in their first CAA game of the season.

“That was a good start for us, knowing how difficult every conference game is,” head coach Chris Norris said. “Fortunately for us, we were the recipient of some big plays.”

Sophomore midfielder John Ciampa scored his first goal of the season early in the second half when junior midfielder Ben Anderson headed a pass back to Ciampa, who struck a volley past the goalkeeper for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.

“More than anything, it was quality service from [freshman midfielder] Josh West,” Norris said. “In this situation, we had a number of guys who recycled their runs. John was in a good spot and he finished it well.”

Before taking the lead, the Tribe limited UNC-W to just one shot on goal, but the Seahawks came back with a flurry late in the second half. The Seahawks nearly equalized in the 74th minute, but had an apparent goal called back due to a handball. On a run that began in the 78th minute, Wilmington garnered three corner kicks — they had seven in the second half alone — and forced senior goalkeeper Colin Smolinsky to make four saves.Smolinsky withstood the run for his second shutout of the season.

“Wilmington is a team that thrives on set pieces,” Norris said. “We just tried to stay composed and not panic and stick to our individual responsibilities.”

The Tribe was fortunate not to be down earlier, when a well-placed free kick, the Seahawks’ only offensive threat in the first half, looked headed for goal. Smolinsky had to dive to knock the ball away.

“We were fortunate that Colin made some great saves when we needed them,” Norris said. “It was great for us to get back on what hopefully becomes a shutout trail.”

The Tribe didn’t put any additional offensive pressure on the Seahawks following their goal. Wilmington outperformed the College in shots (11 to nine) and shots on goal (six to three). Norris acknowledged there are areas his team needs to work on, but said he was satisfied with the victory and the team’s performance.

“More than anything else, it’s just part of the process. Hopefully we can learn those lessons quickly and eradicate those mistakes early in the season,” he said. “We think we’re making strides. We’re becoming more and more dangerous every game.”

A pair of second-half goals and top-notch goalkeeping gave William and Mary the edge over Princeton Friday, breaking a three-game winless streak as the team concluded its non-conference schedule.

The Tribe, trying to fight its way back into the national rankings after a disappointing loss to Richmond and tie with East Carolina, moved to 5-1-3 on the season with goals from freshman forward Emory Camper and junior midfielder Mallory Schaffer in a contentious matchup with the Tigers.

“This is huge,” Schaffer said. “Three games without a win, to get one [Friday night] is clutch.”

Chances were abundant for both sides in the first, but some excellent goalie play kept the game scoreless in the first half.

Junior goalkeeper Katherine Yount asserted herself in goal midway through the first period. A deflected Princeton pass found Princeton forward Sara Chehrehsa with a good look at goal from about 16 yards out. She fired at the top left corner, but Yount made a high-flying save to keep the game tied.

The Tribe nearly got on the board in the 36th minute when a bounding loose ball wound up at Schaffer’s feet just outside the 18 yard box. Schaffer ripped a shot on goal, but this time it was Princeton keeper Claire Pinciaro making the beautiful diving save. At the end of the first period, the Tribe had the advantage in shots, eight to seven, and Pinciaro had already racked up seven saves.

The game got testy in the secon half, as the two teams fought hard to gain an advantage. In the 53rd minute, an altercation after a hard sliding tackle erupted between freshman forward Anna Madden and Princeton’s Kacie Kergides. With Madden on her back and Kergides standing over her, the Tiger appeared to step on Madden.

“Coming into the game, we knew they were going to be tough competiton,” Schaffer said. “When it’s that close of a game, chippiness happens. It’s part of the game.”

Play was stopped and both were handed yellow cards, but the physicality from both sides continued.
“That’s just two teams fighting hard to get a win,” head coach John Daly said.

The College finally broke through in the 65th minute. Camper, who had only recently came onto the pitch as a substitution, made a well-timed run to get behind the Tigers’s defense and received a beautiful through ball from Schaffer. With only the keeper to beat, Camper tucked it in the right side of the net from about six yards out for her fifth goal of the season to give the Tribe a 1-0 lead.

Schaffer then put the game out of reach in the 73rd. Freshman defender Emily Fredrikson sent a free kick into the box. Camper stuck her foot out and got a piece of it, sending it right to Schaffer behind the defense, who looped it over Pinciaro for her fourth of the year.

“I don’t know how I got the ball, but [Camper] got a great touch on it,” Schaffer said. “I just managed to get a touch in over the keeper.”

Daly said the win served as a much-needed confidence boost with the team heading into its conference schedule, which will begin when Towson comes to Martin Family Stadium Friday.

“It helps [going into CAA play],” he said. “We were beginning to wonder, three games without a win.”

I know how easy it is to immediately jump to conclusions. It only takes a couple of consecutive losses, a couple of heartbreakers, or — in the Tribe’s case — a very close call against a Division II team to ring in pessimism and doubt about the season. The Tribe was ranked No. 1 in the FCS in the coaches’ preseason poll, and was even believed to stand a chance against notorious rival Virginia. So far the squad has failed to live up to the expectations, losing toVirginia in a 40-3 landslide, and barely beating New Haven by a final score of 13-10. Heading into the start of its conference schedule — a sold-out showdown with No. 12 James Madison at Zable Stadium Saturday — a number of questions about this team remain.

First, is there a quarterback on the roster who can lead this team to the FCS playoffs? Senior quarterback Mike Paulus — the North Carolina transfer who was supposed to be the clear starter for the 2011 campaign — has now been benched twice in three games for his failure to move the ball through the air. With a 37.5 percent completion rate, and an efficiency rating of 72.2, Paulus has struggled mightily with his accuracy. Sophomore Michael Graham has fared better, leading the Tribe on its only scoring drive of the UVa. game and playing an integral part of the New Haven win. He’s shown that he has the potential to take the reins, but Laycock won’t commit to the sophomore just yet. So if not Graham, who?

Secondly, can the College’s defense keep swarming? The unit kept the Virginia game close for as long as possible, allowed just one score to Virginia Military Institute and essentially won the game Saturday night.
The Tribe held the Chargers to 33 rushing yards on 27 carries, and recorded three key interceptions. Laycock knows that this team can only go as far as the defense takes it, if that. Last year, the Tribe was No. 1 in the nation in run defense, and second in points allowed. As of right now, it appears as though the team will have to produce near that level to give the Tribe a shot at defending its CAA title.

And finally, the most obvious: If this team can’t do any better than a three-point margin over New Haven, how can it be expected to win games against teams like JMU? With the high rankings comes pressure to perform, and a tendency from every opponent to want to knock you from your perch. It’s true that
sometimes it often takes a team a couple of games to start playing to its potential, and that some don’t reach their peak until later in the season. But starting Saturday, Laycock’s squad will really have to start finding answers.

William and Mary narrowly escaped a loss to New Haven Saturday night, making just enough key plays to pull out a 13-10 victory over the Division II Chargers. The Tribe improved to 2-1 on the season.

Two field goals from sophomore kicker Drake Kuhn and three interceptions by the Tribe’s defense made the difference, but the headline from Saturday is the brewing quarterback controversy.

Starting senior quarterback Mike Paulus was benched after a first half in which he went just two of six for seven yards and an interception. The teams went into the locker room knotted at three, but on the Tribe’s first possession in the second half, head coach Jimmye Laycock made the switch to sophomore Michael Graham, who led the College on a lead-taking touchdown drive to start the third quarter. After starting the season as third on the depth chart behind Paulus and sophomore Brent Caprio, Graham finished the game at six of 11 for 112 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

“Mike [Paulus] wasn’t doing very well and it’s just like anything, he isn’t doing very well, we’ll give somebody else a chance. He was making some mistakes with throws, he was making some mistakes with some of the calls out there, so it wasn’t his night. We went with Mike Graham,” Laycock said, adding that he didn’t know who would start when James Madison comes to Williamsburg in the team’s conference schedule opener next Saturday. “It’s too early to tell what we do on that right now. We have to evaluate this and see where we go next week.”

The College’s running game, on the other hand, pounded New Haven’s front line throughout the game, as the Tribe racked up a total of 156 yards on the ground. Senior half back Jonathan Grimes set a career-high in carries with 31 and ran for 129 yards to go along with his team-leading four catches, including a go-ahead touchdown grab in the third quarter.

“I don’t even know the number [of carries], but at the moment you’re just trying to do whatever you have to do to get a win,” Grimes said. “No matter how many times they give you the ball, whenever your number’s called, you got to make something happen.”

The Tribe dug itself an early hole, opening the game with the ball and promptly going three and out. On fourth down, Kuhn’s punt was blocked, setting the Chargers up on the College’s 30 yard line, but the defense answered the call — as it would throughout — and held New Haven’s offense, led by Louisville-transfer quarterback Ryan Osiecki, to just a field goal.

The College’s offensive struggles only continued as the first quarter wore on. After another punt on its second drive, Grimes started the team’s third possession with five consecutive runs, moving the ball from the Tribe’s 22 to New Haven’s 39 with ease. But when Paulus’ number was finally called, he erased the team’s progress, rolling out of the pocket on 2nd and 6 and hitting Charger linebacker Mike Gomes between the numbers for an interception.

Down 3-0 late in the second quarter, the defense came up big again. Junior corner back B.W. Webb made an acrobatic interception on a tipped Osiecki pass, giving the Tribe the ball on New Haven’s 35. After three Grimes rushes gave the team a first down, the junior broke off a big gainer, scampering 21 yards before being pushed out of bounds on the Chargers’ three. A false start penalty derailed the push for a touchdown, but Kuhn tied the game at 3 with a 21 yard field goal as the clock wound down on the first half.

Laycock was blunt about what needed to improve in the passing game.

“We got to block better, we got to protect better, we got to throw better, we got to catch better. Other than that, we’re pretty good,” he said.

When Graham came out to start the third quarter, the light came on for the team’s offense.
“I just remember [Graham] being very positive when he came in the huddle. He kind of motivated [the offense] before the play just like ‘let’s go, let’s get in.’” Grimes said. “I think he gained our confidence pretty fast pretty well.”

Graham made completions for gains of 15, six and 16, leading the team on a 10-play, 48 yard drive that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Grimes, putting the Tribe up 10-3.
“I was ready to go. I knew our offense needed a spark,” Graham said.

But New Haven answered in the fourth with an eight play, 80 yard drive ending with a 17-yard touchdown throw by quarterback Ryan Oseicki to receiver Demetrius Ellis-Washington to tie the game at 10.

With 8:17 left in the fourth, Graham made the offensive play of the game, hitting senior wide receiver D.J. Mangas up the seam for a gain of 56 to set the Tribe up for a 28 yard field goal from Kuhn to give the College a 13-10 lead with five minutes, 28 seconds left in the game.

“He just busted the coverage,” Graham said. “He was wide open and I just threw it to him.”

But New Haven looked like it was ready to at least tie the game up on its next possession. Chargers quarterback Ryan Oseicki threw complete to receiver Jason Thompson, who darted down to the Tribe’s 18 yard line for a gain of 39. On the ensuing third down, though, Mines picked off Osiecki’s throw at the goal line and ran it back to the College’s 35 yard line, all but sealing the win for the College.

“We knew it was a situation where they were going deep,” Mines said. “We studied film all week and coach told me to drop and get deep I got as deep as possible in my drop, I saw the ball and I just tried to make a play for my team.”

The College will have to find answers to the looming questions quickly, as the No. 12 JMU Dukes will be at Zable Saturday for a clash of two CAA rivals, but Laycock said the team is focusing on its own game, not its opponent.

William and Mary narrowly escaped a loss to New Haven Saturday night, making just enough key plays to pull out a 13-10 victory over the Division II Chargers. The Tribe improved to 2-1 on the season.

Two field goals from sophomore kicker Drake Kuhn and three interceptions by the Tribe’s defense made the difference, but the headline from Saturday is the brewing quarterback controversy.

Starting senior quarterback Mike Paulus was benched after a first half in which he went just two of six for seven yards and an interception. The teams went into the locker room knotted at three, but on the Tribe’s first possession in the second half, head coach Jimmye Laycock made the switch to sophomore Michael Graham, who led the College on a lead-taking touchdown drive to start the third quarter. After starting the season as third on the depth chart behind Paulus and sophomore Brent Caprio, Graham finished the game at six of 11 for 112 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

“Mike [Paulus] wasn’t doing very well and it’s just like anything, he isn’t doing very well, we’ll give somebody else a chance. He was making some mistakes with throws, he was making some mistakes with some of the calls out there, so it wasn’t his night. We went with Mike Graham,” Laycock said, adding that he didn’t know who would start when James Madison comes to Williamsburg in the team’s conference schedule opener next Saturday. “It’s too early to tell what we do on that right now. We have to evaluate this and see where we go next week.”

The College’s running game, on the other hand, pounded New Haven’s front line throughout the game, as the Tribe racked up a total of 156 yards on the ground. Senior half back Jonathan Grimes set a career-high in carries with 31 and ran for 129 yards to go along with his team-leading four catches, including a go-ahead touchdown grab in the third quarter.

“I don’t even know the number [of carries], but at the moment you’re just trying to do whatever you have to do to get a win,” Grimes said. “No matter how many times they give you the ball, whenever your number’s called, you got to make something happen.”

The Tribe dug itself an early hole, opening the game with the ball and promptly going three and out. On fourth down, Kuhn’s punt was blocked, setting the Chargers up on the College’s 30 yard line, but the defense answered the call — as it would throughout — and held New Haven’s offense, led by Louisville-transfer quarterback Ryan Osiecki, to just a field goal.

The College’s offensive struggles only continued as the first quarter wore on. After another punt on its second drive, Grimes started the team’s third possession with five consecutive runs, moving the ball from the Tribe’s 22 to New Haven’s 39 with ease. But when Paulus’ number was finally called, he erased the team’s progress, rolling out of the pocket on 2nd and 6 and hitting Charger linebacker Mike Gomes between the numbers for an interception.

Down 3-0 late in the second quarter, the defense came up big again. Junior corner back B.W. Webb made an acrobatic interception on a tipped Osiecki pass, giving the Tribe the ball on New Haven’s 35. After three Grimes rushes gave the team a first down, the junior broke off a big gainer, scampering 21 yards before being pushed out of bounds on the Chargers’ three. A false start penalty derailed the push for a touchdown, but Kuhn tied the game at 3 with a 21 yard field goal as the clock wound down on the first half.

Laycock was blunt about what needed to improve in the passing game.

“We got to block better, we got to protect better, we got to throw better, we got to catch better. Other than that, we’re pretty good,” he said.

When Graham came out to start the third quarter, the light came on for the team’s offense.
“I just remember [Graham] being very positive when he came in the huddle. He kind of motivated [the offense] before the play just like ‘let’s go, let’s get in.’” Grimes said. “I think he gained our confidence pretty fast pretty well.”

Graham made completions for gains of 15, six and 16, leading the team on a 10-play, 48 yard drive that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Grimes, putting the Tribe up 10-3.
“I was ready to go. I knew our offense needed a spark,” Graham said.

But New Haven answered in the fourth with an eight play, 80 yard drive ending with a 17-yard touchdown throw by quarterback Ryan Oseicki to receiver Demetrius Ellis-Washington to tie the game at 10.

With 8:17 left in the fourth, Graham made the offensive play of the game, hitting senior wide receiver D.J. Mangas up the seam for a gain of 56 to set the Tribe up for a 28 yard field goal from Kuhn to give the College a 13-10 lead with five minutes, 28 seconds left in the game.

“He just busted the coverage,” Graham said. “He was wide open and I just threw it to him.”

But New Haven looked like it was ready to at least tie the game up on its next possession. Chargers quarterback Ryan Oseicki threw complete to receiver Jason Thompson, who darted down to the Tribe’s 18 yard line for a gain of 39. On the ensuing third down, though, Mines picked off Osiecki’s throw at the goal line and ran it back to the College’s 35 yard line, all but sealing the win for the College.

“We knew it was a situation where they were going deep,” Mines said. “We studied film all week and coach told me to drop and get deep I got as deep as possible in my drop, I saw the ball and I just tried to make a play for my team.”

The College will have to find answers to the looming questions quickly, as the No. 12 JMU Dukes will be at Zable Saturday for a clash of two CAA rivals, but Laycock said the team is focusing on its own game, not its opponent.