W&M’S SCHAFFER EARNS ALL-AMERICA HONORS: William & Mary junior midfielder Mallory Schaffer earned first-team All-America honors from the NSCAA and second-team All-America accolades from Soccer America. Schaffer, who led the league with 17 goals, six game-winning goals and 40 points, is the 14th Tribe player to receive All-America honors, but the first to make the first team since 1997. The 2011 CAA Player of the Year, Schaffer was also a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy, which is awarded to the nation’s top player.

FIVE CAA PLAYERS ON ALL-REGION SQUAD: Five CAA women’s soccer players were named to the NSCAA All-Mid Atlantic Region team. Honored on the first team were William & Mary junior midfielders Cortlyn Bristol and Mallory Schaffer and Tribe senior defender Diana Weigel. Bristol contributed seven goals and nine assists for W&M, while Schaffer had 14 goals and six assists and Weigel had three goals and five assists. Making the All-Region third team were VCU junior defender Karol Sanchez and Delaware junior forward Ali Miller. Sanchez was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year after anchoring a VCU defense that surrendered only 15 goals and posted 10 shutouts. Miller scored a school-record tying 14 goals and compiled 30 points for the Blue Hens.

CAGLE, SCHAFFER NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Georgia State senior Bri Cagle and William & Mary junior Mallory Schaffer were selected to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America women’s soccer team. Cagle was chosen to the Academic All-America second team after earning third team honors a year ago. She is just the second athlete in Georgia State history to receive Academic All-America honors twice in a career. Cagle started 68 games in her Panthers’ career and helped lead a defense that recorded 20 shutouts during that time. The history major has a 4.12 grade point average.

TRIBE’S DALY HONORED AS REGIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR: William & Mary head coach John Daly was honored as the NSCAA/Mondo Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his outstanding career. Daly guided the Tribe to a 17-3-2 overall record this season which included W&M’s 10th CAA championship and its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Tribe has posted an NCAA-record 30 consecutive winning seasons.

W&M RANKED #38 NATIONALLY: William & Mary was ranked #38 in the final TopDrawerSoccer national poll. The Tribe was also among others receiving votes in the final NSCAA Top 25 poll.

TWO CAA TEAMS RANKED REGIONALLY: A pair of CAA teams were listed in the final NSCAA/Continental Tire Mid-Atlantic region rankings released on Nov. 8. William & Mary was ranked #2 in the region behind La Salle while VCU was #9 in the rankings.

W&M FALLS 4-1 TO NORTH CAROLINA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT: CAA champion William & Mary fell 4-1 to perennial power North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Tribe got behind 1-0 in the opening 10 minutes of the match, but battled back to tie the contest at 1-1 when senior Diana Weigel scored her third goal of the season from 25 yards out in the 15th minute. The match was still tied until midway through the second half when the Tar Heels netted the game-winner in the 67th minute. UNC out-shot W&M 19-4, with Tribe goalkeeper Katherine Yount making eight saves.

TRIBE EDGES VCU 1-0 IN OVERTIME TO CAPTURE CAA TITLE: Junior Mallory Schaffer scored from 12 yards out just 2:13 into the first overtime to lift top-seeded William & Mary to a 1-0 victory over #2 VCU in the title game of the Virginia 529 CAA Women’s Soccer Championship in Williamsburg, Va. It was the 10th CAA championship for the Tribe, but first since 2003. On the deciding play, freshman Aly Shaughnessy headed a pass from just outside the box over the Rams’ defense to Schaffer, who fired a 12-yard laser inside the right post. It was W&M’s first shot since the game’s 61st minute. VCU, which saw its 10-match unbeaten streak come to an end, out-shot the Tribe 17-8, including 9-1 in the second half.  W&M’s Tara Connors was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Dani Rutter, Shaughnessy and Katherine  Yount. VCU was represented by Kristin Carden, Courtney Conrad and Meaghan Dullea. Rounding out the squad were Paige Burnett and Veronica Napoli of Northeastern and Tania Domingos and Ali Miller of Delaware.

VARIETY OF CHAMPIONS: Seven different schools have captured the CAA women’s soccer championship over the past eight years, showing the depth and quality of the conference. Hofstra is the only two-time champion (2005, 2007) during that stretch. Other champions include VCU (2004), Old Dominion (2006), Northeastern (2008), UNCW (2009), James Madison (2010) and William & Mary (2011).

BACK IN THE TOURNAMENT: A pair of CAA teams made the CAA Women’s Soccer Championship this season for the first time in several years. VCU, which went unbeaten in 10 straight matches (7-0-3) before falling to W&M in the finals, made the tournament for the first time since 2007. Delaware reached the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 and advanced to the semifinals after beating Hofstra, 1-0. Drexel just missed a berth in the tournament, but still posted its best record ever in CAA play with a 4-4-3 mark.

SCHAFFER HEADLINES ALL-CAA TEAM: William & Mary junior midfielder Mallory Schaffer, who led the conference in goals and points, was named the 2011 CAA women’s soccer Player of the Year. She was the first Tribe player to receive the award since 2007. Also earning top honors were VCU junior Karol Sanchez as CAA Defensive Player of the Year and VCU freshman midfielder Cristin Granados as CAA Rookie of the Year. There were Co-Coaches of the Year, which went to W&M’s John Daly and VCU’s Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak and Tim Sahaydak.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Playing at home proved to be a big advantage this season as hosts posted a 38-20-8 record over the 66 conference games.

NU’S NAPOLI IN RECORD BOOKS: Northeastern senior forward Veronica Napoli capped an outstanding career as the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer with 36 goals and 89 points. She earned first-team All-CAA honors in 2011 after topping NU with 10 goals and 26 points.

CAA TEAMS/PLAYERS IN FINAL NCAA STATS: Several CAA teams and players were among the nation’s leaders in various statistical categories. In team categories, William & Mary was 11th in scoring offense (2.41 ppg), 26th in goals against average (.757) and 35th in shutout percentage (.50). VCU was 19th in goals against average (.674) and 38th in save percentage (.833). Individually, W&M’s Mallory Schaffer was 15th in goals per game and 16th in points per game, Hofstra’s Laura Greene was 21st in goals per game and 26th in points per game and Delaware’s Ali Miller was 29th in goals per game. In assists per game, W&M’s Dani Rutter was 22nd and Towson’s Cheyenne Skidmore was 27th.  VCU goalkeeper Kristin Carden was 25th and W&M’s Katherine Yount was 35th in goals against average, while Drexel keeper Eve Badana was 25th in save percentage.