The Story
Tribe Ladies Sweep Bison Away With Flood of Goals
Even the rain couldn’t stop the women’s Tribe soccer team Friday against Howard University. If anything the weather only fueled their fire as junior Taline Tahmassian scored a hat trick and Lydia Sturgis tied the school record of four assists in one game. Both players were instrumental in the commanding victory against the Bison, 8-0.
Tahmassian opened the scoring in the third minute of play, as she fired a shot in the goal off an assist from Sturgis. Twelve minutes later, freshman Katie Hogwood extended the lead to 2-0 off another Sturgis assist. Less than ten minutes later, Tahmassian struck again as she tallied off a pass from senior Tara Flint. This goal was her second of the match and gave the Tribe a 3-0 advantage at the half.
In the 57th minute the Flint-Tahmassian combo struck again when Flint found the ball and carried it into Bison territory. From there Tahmassian streaked to the box and notched her third goal into the bottom left corner of the net. This further increased the College’s lead to 4-0 and gave Tahmassian her hat trick.
Minutes later, Hogwood found the net again with an unassisted breakaway, ensuring a 5-0 lead, and giving her her second goal of the match. Unbelievably, just a minute later, freshman Tiffany Chudoba recorded her first career goal with the help of the Sturgis once again.
Another freshman made her mark in the 72nd minute of play; Rianna Barrett headed a shot into the center of the net off a feed from Sturgis to bring William and Mary’s lead to 7-0. And one more goal made it eight, as Senior Rebecca Sowden teamed up with Ali West to clench the 8-0 lead and the Tribe victory.
The College dominated the entire game, out shooting the Bison 20-3 and holding a corner kick advantage at 6-2. The Tribe’s outstanding performance in Friday’s game extended their winning streak to four in a row and left the crowd craving for more.
William and Mary now stands at 7-4-2, currently placed in a three-way tie for second in the CAA standings with seven points. The ladies will be looking for win number five as they face Cincinnati on Sunday at 2 p.m. on Barksdale Field.