The Hofstra University women’s soccer team dropped their season finale 3-2 against Monmouth University. The Pride is now guaranteed to be a bottom-three seed in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament.
Hofstra finishes up their regular season 7-4-6 with a 5-3-2 conference record. Monmouth will take on Hampton University on Sunday, Oct. 27, only needing a single win to clinch the CAA regular season championship.
“Disappointing in the end,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “I thought, for a lot of the game, we played quite well against a very good, well-coached Monmouth team. I thought we conceded a couple of soft goals, critical errors by individuals; it’s been the story of our season.”
Uncharacteristic mistakes cost the Pride during the match. Hofstra conceded three goals in a game for the first time this season.
“The first goal was just poor from a professional perspective,” Riddiough said. “The second goal, we had a chance to win a tackle at the halfway line, we chose not to, we played soft … The last one we had an opportunity to clear the ball or deal with it better … we just didn’t handle the movement of them on the corner kick, it’s basic, it’s elementary defending.”
The Pride found their first goal from freshman Emma Johnson. The defender scored her first career goal with a first-time strike inside the box. Sasha McTiffin and Gabriella Marte picked up the assists, their third and second assists of the campaign, respectively.
“She’s a freshman, and she’s playing well for 90 minutes,” Riddiough said. “She’s a good defender; we don’t expect her to score goals, but she’s tenacious in those situations.”
In the second half, Millie Davies brought the game level via a penalty on a Monmouth handball.
“I think [Davies] is the best player in the conference,” Riddiough said. “She hasn’t proven that at the beginning of the season because she was injured, and she was carrying a knock. But when she’s playing like she is tonight, we fancy our chances.”
The match was tightly contested throughout, but lethal finishing gave the Hawks the edge in the match. Monmouth led on three separate occasions throughout the night, scoring early and often, starting just before the eight-minute mark with Liza Suydam’s seventh goal of the season.
The Pride controlled the majority of the first half after the goal. They were rewarded for their efforts through Johnson’s goal. Hofstra led Monmouth 9-7 in shots in the first half, forcing four saves from Hawks goalie Cassie Coster.
In the second half, Monmouth yet again started strong. Summer Reimet, who ended Hofstra’s season last year in Monmouth’s 2-1 extra-time win in the CAA semifinals, found the back of the net after a great cross from Loren Gehret. Despite a strong start, the Pride fought back through Davies’ penalty.
The contest continued to be unpredictable as another defensive lapse from the Pride let the Hawks in to score the winner. Reimet turned provider on Suydam’s second of the match. Hofstra did not muster another attempt on the net in the final 30 minutes, as the Hawks buckled down and suffocated the Pride’s offense.
Overall, the Pride had 13 shots during the match, compared to Monmouth’s 15. Additionally, Danielsen notched seven saves on a disappointing night for the Hofstra defense.
The Pride will be back in action next week as the CAA championships get underway on Thursday, Oct. 31. Hofstra will play one of the University of Delaware, University of Charleston, Towson University or Campbell University in the first round of the tournament, the game will be played either at Elon University, Monmouth University or Stony Brook University.
Photos courtesy of Ethan Albin and Julia Boesch
