By Kirsten McKenna
After clinching a 3-2 lead over the Drexel in the first half, Hofstra lost their grip and fell to the Dragons 4-3 at the 48:06 mark when Carolina Gibernau converted a penalty corner from Emily Horvat to score the game- winning goal in the quarterfinals round of the CAA Championship on Thurs., Nov. 1.
Anticipation surrounded the match as it served as Drexel’s first appearance in the CAA Championship. The game served as a chance for the Pride to redeem themselves from the regular season loss of 2-0 to the Drexel, who according to Coach De Angelis maintains “overall team performance and athletic ability.”
Redemption seemed attainable as the Pride struck first in the match as Charlia Warner slammed a hard shot past Drexel goaltender Colleen McAndrew from the top of the circle at 11:53, marking Warner’s fifth goal on the season.
Disappointed with the number of goals she has scored in the previous season, Warned said, “It felt good to score the first goal in the postseason against a tema we lsot to in the regular season.”
Three minutes later Nancy Wagenbrenner advanced Hofstra’s score to 2-0 as she gathered her own rebound from in front of Drexel’s goal to fire the ball right back into the cage.
Pleased with her team’s performance in the game, De Angelis said, “We capitalized on opportunities of attack and were equally strong on defense.
With about fifteen minutes of play left in the first half, the Dragons responded to the Pride’s early lead and scored two goals of their own.
From the outside top circle at midfield, Casey Mouser passed the ball right in front of the net where Kim Tunell deflected the ball past Hofstra goalkeeper Nadine Surak, putting the first tally on the board for Drexel. Surak, who played in her last game for the Pride against Drexel said, “Drexel played with a lot of heart and finished everything.”
Drexel’s Amanda Kicera evened out the score with assistance from teammate Sarah Gostomski at 22:56. Gostomski quickly passed the ball infield to Kicera, who tipped the goal into the cage and neutralized the score at 2-2, successfully converting the penalty corner. Drexel held the edge over Hofstra in penalty corners, 5-4.
As the clock ticked down towards the end of the first half, the Pride regained the lead. Kristin Thompson deflected Brit Blankmeyer’s high shot from the top left to the back of the goal, causing Drexel to trail by one at the half. Pleased with her team’s performance in the first half, Blankmeyer said, “Over the season, we changed line- ups and it took us a while to chemistry, it was nice to come together.”
Drexel returned to the second half and scored two goals to finish the game and end the Pride’s season. Kicera scored her second goal of the game at 44:32 when she connected
to Mouser, who passed the ball from the top left to Kicera who would proceed to tip the ball in the net. Surak said of Drexel’s offense, “They have a solid team, they attack in groups while in the circle.”
With the game tied at 3-3 and 22 minutes remaining, Caroline Gibernau received a pass on a penalty corner from Emily Horvat and scored the game-winner.
Though the Pride attempted one more strong attack with one minute remaining in the second half, Hofstra was unable to shoot and execute to make a comeback. Throughout the game, Drexel outshot Hofstra 11-9. Surak said, “We came out strong in the second half, but sometimes it’s hard to pick ourselves up after being scored on, we become scared to lose.”
Despite the loss, Coach De Angelis said, “We stuck to the game plan, which was to play the best hockey we could, the game could have gone either way.”
Though the score was not indicative of a win for the Pride, Warner said, “Playing Drexel at the peak of our season was full of excitement, the energy was high, and we gelled very well…we won in terms of coming together.”
Warner, and Blankmyer return to the field for their senior year in 2008 with high expectations. According to Warner, the playoff game against Drexel proves that team is able to function as a unit. She said, “We clearly have the potential to do well and are capable of coming together.”
Looking to the future, Blankmeyer said the Drexel game will be use the 2007 season as a learning experience for next year. She said, “We”ll use the offseason to keep us together- play together more, we want to see everyone improve- last season even the bench improved, hopefully we will continue that.”
According to De Angelis, recruits have already made early commitments to the field hockey team for the 2008 season. The Pride, who participated in their fourth consecutive CAA Championship, finished the 2007 season with a 7-11 record.

The field hockey team dropped their first round CAA tournament contest to Drexel ending a season that garnered three players All-CAA honors. (Jeffrey Herman)