By Lindsay Carlton

The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team continued to roll as it pulled off its seventh straight win after defeating Stony Brook this week.

The Pride’s overall winning streak is the fifth longest in school history, while Sunday’s home victory against Vanderbilt increased the team’s home win streak to seven games, which is tied for the third longest in school history. The overall win streak is also currently the nation’s second longest.

On Tuesday, the Pride grabbed Long Island bragging rights when it traveled to Stony Brook en route to a 16-8 win. With yet another Hofstra victory, the team’s record improved to 10-6, a huge jump from the 0-4 start to the season.

“Our game has changed tremendously,” junior attack Kimberly Hillier said. “We have complete and total teamwork all over the field. Everyone is touching the ball, so there’s more than a few people punching up numbers. We’re really just backing each other up and playing like a team.”

Hofstra started and ended the game with goals, but the most impressive moment came just six and a half minutes into the game. The Pride went on a wild scoring rampage, notching five consecutive goals from five different players.

It’s evident just how much the team has improved in moving the ball around the field, which has continuously worked to its advantage in each of the last seven games.

“The most important thing is that they’re really starting to pass the ball,” head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe said. “The more they give the ball up, the more we’re able to get other people involved in the offense.”

For both teams, the first half was the biggest scoring phase of the game. Unfortunately for Stony Brook, they only managed to score half as many goals as Hofstra.

Midfielder Jamie Rabuano put the Pride on the scoreboard in the first four minutes of the game and later went on to score all four of her goals in the half. In just over 14 minutes, Hofstra came out with a 6-1 lead that it never relinquished.

The Seawolves struggled with keeping the ball in their possession. With 20 turnovers, the Seawolves didn’t control the ball enough in their passes. “Their strength becomes their weakness,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “They push the ball into transition and really rely on fast break opportunities. Because of that, they’re popping at the ball a lot and when they don’t connect on their passes, they turn it over.”

Stony Brook didn’t have a chance for a comeback, but back-to-back goals by Katie Savino and Jill Gridley did cut the Seawolves’ deficit to 10-5 at the break. However, the Pride calmly answered back with three consecutive goals of their own starting the second half.

“It was really hard for them to catch up to us, and we touched the ball the whole time,” senior attack Catherine Guerriere said.

After a successful end to the regular season, the team will take some much needed time off to relax and actually get their minds off of lacrosse.

“For the next two days our initial goal is to get ourselves away from the game so we can come back refreshed and ready to go,” Klaes-Bawcombe said.