By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor
After an overtime win Friday night against Georgia State University, the Hofstra University women’s soccer team returned to action Sunday, Oct. 24 when it welcomed UNC-Wilmington into Hempstead.
The Pride looked to extend its 15-game winning streak and keep alive its undefeated Colonial Athletic Association record.
The match started off quite sloppily as Hofstra experienced some early pressure from the Seahawks, but was able to turn away any chances and steady its play.
Hofstra’s offense sputtered along in the first half, showing signs of life when senior midfielder Tiffany Yovino tried to spark the offense, but missed two chances in the early minutes.
Yovino was finally rewarded for her stellar play when she got on the end of sophomore defender Amy Turner’s free kick from 35-yards out and headed it home in the sixteenth minute for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Yovino’s eighth goal in seven games.
“I guess I’ve just been at the right place at the right time,” said Yovino. “I’ve really just been trying to get to the net, get some more numbers in the box when there are crosses.”
Yovino’s tally proved to be the only goal of the first half as Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough was unimpressed with their play at the break. “The first half was disappointing. I told the team at half time that this is the worst I’ve seen us play this year,” said Riddiough. “We were uninspired, lackadaisical, lazy, just mentally not sharp, too many individual errors so it was a pretty upsetting first half.”
Whatever Riddiough said to his squad at the half seemed to work as the Pride came out absolutely flying. Though it was not able to add insurance in the early stages of the second half, Hofstra monopolized possession and kept a majority of the play on the attack.
It was not until the seventy-seventh minute that the Pride was able to put the game away when senior forward Salma Tarik received a cross from junior forward Laura Greene twelve yards in front of goal. Tarik faked a shot; drawing two UNCW defenders down and unleashed a strike that left the UNCW goalie no chance as Hofstra doubled its lead.
The Pride earned its sixteenth straight victory and keeps its conference record undefeated at 9-0.
Next Saturday is the last day of the regular season and senior day when the Pride looks for an undefeated CAA season and to send out the seniors in style.
Salma Tarik scored a goal in the second half against UNCW. (Sean M. Gates/The Chronicle)
