By Jerome Bailey, Staff Writer
The Pride has been exceptional at home this season, winning all five of its matchups. However, the team has not had the same success on the road. The Pride’s road blues continued this weekend, as it fell to the James Madison Dukes and the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. The losses for the Pride extend its losing streak to four games. Also, the team is now 0-3 in the CAA. In spite of this, the Pride are not panicking, and are taking away the positives from the weekend.
“We will take these losses as learning experiences. This past weekend we played two exceptional teams and came up short. All we can do is learn from it, and get ready for Friday,” said Hofstra field hockey coach Kathy De Angelis.
On Friday against the Dukes, the Pride quickly found itself in a 3-0 hole at halftime. The Dukes were in complete control of the game and never looked back, scoring five goals in the second half. The Pride had a tough outing against the Dukes and it seemed that nothing could go its way.
“JMU played real well. We were going against a great team, and I think we were a little bit shocked in the beginning and they capitalized quickly,” said De Angelis.
In spite of being outshot 31-13 the Pride did have a few scoring opportunities, but were not able to get past Dukes goalie Margo Savage. Savage had five key saves in the game. The Pride did hold the advantage in penalty corners 7-5.
Sunday playing against the Rams, the Pride came out strong and marched out to a 2-1 lead at halftime. The Pride was playing well, but there was still another half to play. Just four minutes into the second half, the Rams tied the game 2-2.
“We feel overall that we have to play 70 minutes. We struggle with this throughout the season- we know it is a weakness of ours. It has been an issue in all of our matches this season. We must work harder and play hard the full 70 minutes,” said De Angelis.
The second half again was an issue for the Pride, as the Rams scored four goals and limited the Pride to only one shot attempt. The Pride did not pose any scoring threats in the half. The Rams also had 13 penalty corners in the game, eight of which came in the second half, to the Pride’s two in the contest.
Although it did not get the win, the Pride did have offensive highlights. Junior Arielle Williams scored her ninth goal of the season and senior Becky Kazaks scored her first of the year.
In the second half the Pride switched goalies and put in junior Meredith Golden. In her 13 minutes of action, Golden recorded five saves and did not allow any goals.
The Pride is now looking towards Friday, against the William & Mary Tribe at the Hofstra field hockey stadium. The Pride hope returning home will end its losing streak.
“Our last four out of five games are home and we have been able to win at home. So we have that going for us. We need to continue the wins at home. It all starts on Friday- we have to view this game as a must win,” De Angelis said.