WILLIAMSBURG — William & Mary field hockey dominated the stat sheet in just about every category in the season opener on Friday evening at Busch Field. The Tribe had commanding advantages in shots, attempts on goal and penalty corners, but in the end, the visiting Dukes scored four times, including twice on corners, to top W&M, 4-2.
The Tribe held a 24-10 advantage in shots, and placed 18 of the chances on goal. It was the most for a Tribe team on goal since tallying 20 against Northeastern in 2019. W&M also had 11 penalty corners compared to just three for the visitors. JMU goalkeeper Brandelynn Heinbaugh led the charge defensively for the visitors with 16 saves.
Senior Jayden Moon scored a goal and recorded an assist for the Tribe, while graduate student Lauren Curran added a goal. Curran attempted 13 shots, including 10 on goal, in the match. It marked the second most shots by an individual in school history and the most for a CAA player since 2017. Sophomore defender Amelia Morgan recorded her first career defensive save in the second quarter.
JMU scored just two minutes into the game on a quick change. Sklyer Brown generated a turnover for the Dukes and found Tori Carawan open on the right side of the circle. The Tribe’s Maddie George came off her to line to cut off the angle, but the JMU senior found Mia Julian at the back post for the game’s first tally.
W&M dominated second quarter, but could not find the equalizer. The Tribe put six of its eight shots on frame in the second 15 minutes and had six penalty corners, but trailed 1-0 at the intermission.
The Dukes pushed its lead to 3-0 with goals from Tori Carawna on the counter in the 32nd minute and Azul Covarrubias nearly seven minutes later on a penalty corner.
Moon got the Tribe on the board with some nifty stick work in the 39th minute. Off a foul, the senior midfielder dribbled into the top of the circle and ripped a shot inside the near post boards for her second career tally.
Despite W&M holding a 7-2 advantage in shots and a 4-1 cushion in penalty corners in the fourth period, it was the Dukes that scored first off its lone corner opportunity in the final frame. It was again Covarrubias converting to extend the margin to 4-1.
W&M converted its final penalty corner chance of the night in the 57th minute. Curran scored with a hard shot from the left side of the circle. It was her 23rd career goal as a member of the Tribe, which is just three shy of breaking in to the top 15 in school history.
Starters
W&M – #1 George (GK), #3 Domovich, #7 Richbourg, #8 Friedman, #9 McGaughey, #12 Moon, #18 Bartzen, #21 Goodwin, #24 McKinney, #27 Schwartz, #33 Curran
JMU – #32 Heinbaugh (GK), #1 Drexeler-Amey, #2 Carawan, #8 Roeper, #12 Beers, #17 Strittmatter, #18 Tambroni, #19 Julian, #21 Postma, #25 Meritt, #28 Brown
Scoring
2′ | JMU – Mian Julian (Tori Carawan)
32′ | JMU – Tori Carawan (Unassisted)
38′ | JMU – Azul Covarrubias (Julian/Carissa Tambroni)
39′ | W&M – Jayden Moon (Unassisted)
54′ | JMU – Covarrubias (Julian/Tambroni)
57′ | W&M – Lauren Curran (Moon)
Up Next
The Tribe hits the road to take on No. 12 Wake Forest on Friday, Sept. 1. The match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start time and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
