William & Mary Rolls Past Sacred Heart 4-0 in Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament
Hunter Peters
BOX SCORE
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Nov. 8, 2023) – CAA Field Hockey Champion William & Mary defeated Sacred Heart 4-0 in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday afternoon from Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Tribe improves to 12-8 this season and advances to face top-seeded North Carolina in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at noon. Sacred Heart concludes the year 9-11 after the setback.
The Tribe’s offensive pressure paid dividends as W&M outshot Sacred Heart 13-6, including 9-1 in shots on goal, and received goals from four players.
Pyper Friedman, Lonica McKinney and Mollie Schuma tallied three points for W&M, recording one goal and one assist each. In addition, Lauren Curran scored for the 11th time in the past seven matches to account for the four Tribe tallies.
After 19 minutes of scoreless field hockey, William & Mary scored back-to-back goals within three minutes of each other to take control. The Tribe converted on a pair of penalty corner opportunities. The first came in the 20th minute, with McKinney scoring her third goal this season, assisted by Jayden Moon, and the second was in the 23rd minute courtesy of Schuma, who registered her first goal of the year. Friedman was credited with an assist on the latter, giving her a team-high seven this fall.
The Tribe kept the pedal to the metal in the second half, scoring four minutes and seven seconds into the third quarter. Curran registered her team-leading 15th goal this season, which ranks second in the CAA. Friedman found the back of the cage later in the period, adding her eighth goal this season in the 42nd minute.
William & Mary’s backend was phenomenal all contest long. The six shots allowed by the Tribe were the second-fewest in a match this season, while the one shot on goal matches a season-best.
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