On Sunday, Nov. 3, the Hofstra University field hockey team fell to the University of Vermont 4-0 in their final game of the season.
In Burlington, the Catamounts scored once in every quarter. Sophia LeFranc, Marie Dijkstra, Lotte Kanters and Maddie Priestly were all able to find the back of the net for the win.
The Pride went 4-15 overall and 2-4 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) in Hofstra head coach Hillary Fitts’ first season at the helm.
From the start, the Catamounts had Hofstra in a bind, outshooting them 4-2 in the first quarter. Pieke Roos made the start in net for the Pride and made three saves in the first 15 minutes. The only goal for Vermont came off the stick of LeFranc at the six-minute mark. They also gained the only two corners in the quarter.
Vermont continued to roll in the second quarter taking a commanding two-goal lead with a goal from Dijkstra. The goal was her team-leading tenth of the season as the Catamounts pressured the Pride once again, outshooting them 4-1.
Going into the half, Hofstra performed a changing of the guard by taking out Roos and putting in freshman goaltender Tessa Lambright. With Roos graduating this spring, Lambright has the inside track to be the starting goaltender next year.
The goalie change sparked something in the Pride in the third quarter. Hofstra surrendered another early goal in the quarter to Kanters but after that, the Pride locked down the Catamounts’ attack. After two minutes, the Pride drew four penalty corners taken by Teresa Karoff and Adrianna Losiak, resulting in the Pride’s best chances of the game. Tara McNally took a shot at the final second, which was denied by Vermont’s keeper Merle Vaandrager. She also controlled Simryn Desai’s rebound attempt as the clock struck zero.
In the fourth quarter, Priestly scored her fourth goal of the season to extend the Catamounts’ lead to four goals.
With the win, Vermont finished the season 8-8 and 3-3 in the America East Conference. The Catamounts will be the fourth seed in the America East Championship tournament and are set to play fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell on Thursday, Nov 7.
In the CAA, the conference tournament also gets underway on Thursday with two games. Fourth-seeded Monmouth University will play first-place Drexel University and second-seeded Northeastern University will take on third-seeded University of Delaware.
As for the Pride, they missed the CAA conference tournament for the tenth straight season.
Next season’s roster will look different for Hofstra with at least four seniors, two graduate students and two juniors not returning.
Even with the major shakeup, the goal will remain the same for Fitts’ squad: to bring a conference title to Hempstead.
Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin
