By Kirsten McKenna
With a final score of 2-1, Columbia defeated Hofstra on Wed., Oct. 10, and caused the Pride’s record to fall to 6- 8. As a light rainfall Wednesday morning moistened the turf and simply frustrated the girls, the Lions of Columbia outlasted and outwitted the Pride: despite Hofstra’s statistical leads in time of possession and number of shots taken on goal.
Hofstra slipped out of character and slid into inconsistency as they were outscored and defeated in their last non- conference game of the season.
According to junior forward Brit Blankmeyer, the rain shower prior to the game caused the turf to be more slippery than it is after the field’s usual halftime watering. Blankmeyer said, “Usually, it’s just the outside of the field that is wet, but during Wednesday’s game, the middle was very wet; it was frustrating and gave us a little bit of trouble.”
Consistency has functioned as the main trouble for the team throughout the season. The issue of consistency, or lack thereof, continues to rear its ugly head. Coach De Angelis said, “Right now, there are controllable factors, such as consistency, and uncontrollable factors, such as injuries. Hopefully we can deal with consistency.”
The real trouble lied in the offense’s inability to execute on strong drives. Though Hofstra was persistent, firing twelve shots opposed to Columbia’s five shots, they were inconsistent and unable to capitalize.
Hofstra remained scoreless in the first half, while Columbia scored two goals within three minutes. Kristin Thompson scored the Pride’s only goal at 42:51 as she received a pass following the penalty corner from Blankmeyer, and tipped the shot through the legs of Columbia goaltender, Gena Miller.
Blankmeyer and Thompson, two dynamic offensive leaders, recognize their team had possession for the majority of the game, and was inconsistent as they failed to score and win. Thompson said, “We not only outshot Columbia, but we outplayed them. The problem with the attack was execution, we didn’t execute on either the shot or the pass to result in goals.”
Blankmeyer agreed with her teammate and said, “We can’t seem to finish.”
Aside from consistency issues on the playing field, injuries and a lack of starters are also causing the team detriment. Coach De Angelis said, “We’ve had so many injuries that it’s difficult to develop as a team in a practice situation.”
Throughout the season, Reyna Farnum, Charlia Warner, Pemba Ramdoo, Ashleigh Daniels, Katy Vitolo, and Nancy Wagenbrenner have suffered injury.
With the loss of such vital players and leaders, adjustments have been difficult for the entire team. Blankmeyer said, “Since the beginning of preseason, we have had injured starters and the whole team can’t seem to find consistent play…it’s been hard for all of us.”
Though finding consistency has been hard for the girls, as starters are on and off the bench due to injury, the team continues to set goals, however they are not all being reached. Thompson said, “Before the game the goal was to go out and get things right, but unfortunately it [the game] didn’t turn out like that.”
Columbia held on strong to win Wednesday’s match, as goaltender Gena Miller, who entered the match with a goals against average of 1.44, had a stealthy showing, saving six shots, and allowing one goal.
The Lions entered Wednesday’s match against the Pride with a record of 5-5, lost to Quinnipiac, a team the Pride defeated earlier this season. Columbia however used their competitive edge to their advantage. Blankmeyer said, “We are definitely the better team, but Columbia treats every game like it’s a national championship.”
Despite the loss to Columbia, which drops Hofstra’s record to 6-8 overall, De Angelis continues to motivate the team. Thompson said, “Coach made it clear that we can’t afford to be set back by the loss and she told us to put the negatives behind us and work harder to improve in each upcoming game.”
Hofstra challenges Northeastern on Sun., Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. as the team honors its seniors in a must- win conference match- up.