The Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team earned a dramatic 12-11 comeback victory over Campbell University on Saturday, April 5. The Pride won their first game at James M. Shuart Stadium since defeating Marist University on Feb. 16, improving to 7-5 on the year and 2-2 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Megan Flannery scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in the fourth quarter to cap off a 6-1 scoring run in the second half for the Pride. Nikki Mennella continued her remarkable season with her fourth game of at least nine points this season.
“At halftime, we knew that we had to pick it up and knew we were going to, so we worked as hard as we could,” Mennella said. “We kept a good mindset the whole game when we were down and we knew ‘we’re winning this game, we’re not losing.’”
It was Senior Day for the Pride as the team held a pre-game ceremony to celebrate Flannery, Brynn Hepting, Julia West, Emily Weigand, Kyndall Jackson, Megan Carroll, Zoe Faraone, Angelina Sparacio and Niki Mormile.
Three seniors had multi-point games, with Flannery finishing with a career-high four goals. West had a career-high three assists and Jackson tied her career-high two assists for the second straight game.
The Fighting Camels raced out to a 2-0 nothing lead as Lexi Goff scored the game’s opening goal less than a minute into the action before Delaney Nicolaus scored her first goal of the game just a minute later.
Mennella got Hofstra onto the board two minutes later, and then West found Julia Harris to tie the game.
Campbell continued their offensive barrage scoring four more times in the first quarter, outshooting Hofstra 9-5 in the frame. The Pride tried to keep pace with the Camels as Mennella found Flannery and Kristen Redding to make the score 6-4 going into the second.
Both sides had their issues with turnovers in the second quarter, each committing seven in the period. Campbell, who ranks second in the CAA for caused turnovers, forced the Pride into uncomfortable situations every time they gained possession. Hofstra was just 4-7 on clears in the second quarter and just 6-12 in the first half, a sharp decline from the .905 clear percentage the Pride had entering the game.
The Pride defense withstood the continuous pressure from Campbell, conceding just one goal, coming less than a minute into the second quarter. Luchianna Cardello had four saves in the quarter as she provided a crucial 11-save performance to keep Hofstra in the game.
“I think [Cardello] was standing on her head there at the end of the game for us,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith. “She was super locked in and focused and made some really great saves at the end of the game.”
Mennella’s second goal came as West found her driving in from the 8-meter arc to bury a shot past Alana Lepore.
Campbell scored three of the first four goals to start the second half as McKenna Duncan found Sam Bischoff and Rasa Welsh before scoring a goal of her own to give the Camels their largest lead of the afternoon.
Flannery and Mennella closed out the third with their second and fourth goals respectively to bring Hofstra within two heading into the fourth quarter.
The Pride’s momentum seemed to stop momentarily as Campbell turned a player disadvantage into a scoring opportunity with Nicolaus scoring just over two minutes into the fourth to regain a three-goal lead for her side.
Hofstra rebounded 30 seconds later when Mennella scored off another pass from West before using her speed to race past two Campbell defenders for her sixth goal of the game.
After Flannery’s go-ahead goal with six minutes to play, the Hofstra defense stepped up yet again holding Campbell to just three shots down the stretch, including a game-sealing save from Cardello off a free position shot from Welsh with under two minutes to go.
The win marked the 100th career win for Smith.
The Pride continue their push for the CAA Championships as they host Towson University on Friday, April 11. First draw is set for 7 p.m.
