It was the night of Thursday, Aug. 21, at Martin Family Stadium, and not a single face on the Tribe sideline was smiling.
William and Mary (1-2-1, 0-0 CAA) had just turned in its best offensive performance of the season, an occasion that would typically be cause for celebration. Over the final 45 minutes of its matchup against visiting Loyola University Maryland (3-0-1, 0-0 Patriot), the Green and Gold applied near-constant pressure to the opposing defense, outshooting the Greyhounds 11 to three and forcing them to make six saves. Loyola junior goalkeeper Brigid Mulholland hardly had time to breathe. During one stretch early in the period, William and Mary unleashed four close-quarters volleys within the span of 120 seconds. An observer who simply skimmed the box score would have concluded that the Green and Gold cruised to victory.
But that observer would have been wrong. Every Tribe shot, no matter how well-placed it appeared to be, managed to miss the back of the net, skimming past a post, bouncing off the hands of Mulholland or careening into the outstretched leg of a Greyhound defender. As luck would have it, when Loyola finally mustered a counterattack and generated a corner kick in the 79th minute — one of just two it attempted during the second half — freshman forward Savannah Manset tapped it in, giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage they did not relinquish.
“I think we did as much as we could do,” William and Mary head coach Julie Shackford ’88 said. “I mean, we controlled the momentum of the game. We had good opportunities. We knew that the corner was probably going to be the way they scored if they did score, but I think we controlled most of the game. Just a little bit unlucky.”
The night began with the Greyhounds wreaking havoc on the William and Mary backline, attempting six shots before the hosts could attempt three, but the Tribe settled in at the 29-minute mark after freshman goalkeeper Gwen Doughty snuffed out a dangerous chance in the penalty area. When halftime arrived, the visitors were outshooting William and Mary 7-4, a margin that was quickly erased. Behind the efforts of junior midfielder Lindsay Wilson and senior forward Ivey Crain, who rocketed three shots at the goal, the Tribe manufactured opportunity after opportunity in the second period.
“I thought all of our frontrunners put a lot of pressure on their backs,” Shackford said. “I thought Lindsay Wilson was phenomenal tonight. She really linked play for us. She was dangerous on both ends. She was really dangerous in the second half.”
However, Loyola adopted a conservative strategy after taking the lead, and the Greyhound defense proved impenetrable in the game’s final ten minutes. 89th-minute shot attempts from William and Mary senior forward Sheridan Brummett, junior midfielder Paige Seitz and freshman forward Ellie Leffler brought the Martin Family Stadium crowd to its feet but ultimately amounted to nothing.
Shackford’s squad grew accustomed to nail-biters during the opening week of the 2025 campaign. Friday, Aug. 15, the Tribe salvaged a season-opening tie against George Mason (0-2-1, 0-0 A-10) courtesy of a late goal from Wilson. Sunday, Aug. 17, the Green and Gold watched a last-second shot from senior midfielder Madison Moon fly awry in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Old Dominion (2-0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt). But in neither of the team’s first two games did it mount the attacking onslaught it did against Loyola, a fact that made its defeat all the more frustrating. Nevertheless, Shackford made clear she expected her team to fend off discouragement and keep up its intensity against future opponents.
“They’re all going to be like that,” Shackford said. “There’s so much parity. You literally could win every game or lose every game. And hopefully, we’re going to be on the other side of that.”
Shackford didn’t have to hope for long. Sunday, Aug. 24, the Tribe returned to Martin Family Stadium to take on Appalachian State (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt). The Mountaineers entered the contest undefeated, boasting wins over Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami (3-1, 0-0 ACC) and strong mid-majors Western Carolina (1-2-1, 0-0 SoCon) and Davidson (3-1, 0-0 A-10). Led by sophomore forward/midfielder Ellie Garrison, the reigning Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, the Mountaineers had accumulated six goals over their first three games of the season and had pitched two consecutive shutouts. William and Mary associate head coach Marsha Lycan ‘87, standing in for a COVID-afflicted Shackford, acknowledged Appalachian State’s strengths but echoed Shackford’s rhetoric: the Tribe knew it was capable of competing with anyone if its shots found the back of the net.
“They’re a 3-0 team, so they’re going to be coming in with a lot of confidence,” Lycan said. “Probably the most potent attack that we’ve faced, so that’s always a challenge. Despite our record, we feel like we have perhaps the most potent attack that we’ve had in our years here, and we’re just ready for the goals to start falling. Our defense is sound, we’ve been lockdown defensively, including our freshman goalkeeper [Doughty] and we just need to put things together in the final third today.”
William and Mary was paced early by Crain, the Tribe’s leading scorer in each of the past three seasons. In the seventh minute, the forward controlled a throw-in from senior defender Leila Greene, navigating around two members of the Appalachian State backline and breaking into open space. Her subsequent shot attempt was handled by Mountaineers redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Claire Jacobi, but Crain challenged Jacobi again in the 19th minute. After Doughty saved a hard shot off the foot of Garrison, the Tribe quickly moved the ball up the field and generated a clean look for Crain at the top of the box. However, she was unable to find pay dirt.
Crain attempted three more shots before the half ended, senior defender Nora Green-Orset whizzed a header over the crossbar and Wilson fired a hard volley that was inadvertently deflected by senior midfielder/forward Alyssa Kenealy. The Green and Gold entered the locker room with a 7-4 lead in shots but nothing to show for it, and for a moment it seemed as though William and Mary was once again going to find itself on the wrong end of a close game.
But Crain assuaged the Tribe’s fears in the 53rd minute. With Appalachian State playing high and aggressively, William and Mary junior defender/midfielder Molly Widderich lofted a service over the heads of three Mountaineer defenders, dropping it deep into opposing territory. As she had in the seventh minute, Crain whirled around the Appalachian State backline. This time, she wouldn’t be denied. Crain’s initial touch sent the ball rolling past the charging Jacobi, who collided with her own defender, and Crain sped towards the unattended goal to give William and Mary its first lead of the season.
The excitement on the Tribe sideline was palpable, exemplified by Crain, who threw her arms in the air after recording her first goal of the campaign. However, the Mountaineers had no intention of letting the hosts rest on their laurels, and Garrison immediately led an offensive barrage that nearly killed the jubilant mood in Martin Family Stadium. Desperate to find an equalizer, Appalachian State ratcheted up offensive pressure that generated a corner kick. William and Mary denied its opponents’ initial service, but Mountaineers redshirt sophomore forward Kyli Switalski controlled the deflection and sent in a hard, low cross that found a wide-open Garrison at the top of the goal box. Appalachian State’s leading scorer flipped a right-footed shot in the direction of Doughty, but the Tribe keeper dove to her left and got an arm around it, preserving William and Mary’s lead dramatically. Doughty finished the afternoon with five saves and her first career shutout.
Appalachian State created a few more chances in the game’s final minutes, but a 75th-minute goal from Wilson, a long, left-footed stroke that curled past the post into the left side of the net, sealed the Tribe’s first victory of the season. On the day, William and Mary racked up a shot advantage of 13-10; Crain finished with six shots and three shots on goal. The striker exchanged high-fives with her teammates as they walked off the field, at last having parlayed a strong offensive performance into a much-needed win.
William and Mary will hit the road Thursday, Aug. 28, traveling to Harrisonburg, Va.’s Sentara Park to take on James Madison (2-1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt), another tough Sun Belt opponent.
