By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor
Friday, September 3 marked the beginning of the Hofstra Invitational, the first women’s soccer in-season tournament held in the programs history. Along with the Pride, the University of Rhode Island, St. John’s, and Fordham made the trip to Hempstead for a two-day tournament.
After a crushing 5-0 loss at Boston College to open up the season, the Pride was eager to wipe the slate clean and earn its first victories of the season. Following St. John’s 1-0 win over Fordham, Hofstra took on Rhode Island in its first game of the tournament.
Things did not start off well for the Pride as Rhode Island’s senior midfielder Kaylen Shimoda scored the first goal less than a minute and a half into the match.
The early concerns did not faze Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “We still had eighty – eight minutes to get a goal back. It’s just a matter of time. Work hard, get back to the basics and we’ll get back in the game,” he said.
The tying goal did not come for the Pride until the forty – fifth minute of the first half when freshman midfielder Tara Kerns’ long ball was muffed by the Rhode Island defense and fell to the feet of senior forward Grace Hawkins, whose cool finish from fifteen yards out tied the game going into the locker room. “That goal was a huge heart breaker for them [Rhode Island],” said Riddiough. “So they go in deflated and we go in with this self belief that we can win the game.”
The Pride came out flying in the second half, monopolizing possession and creating loads of chances. The go ahead goal did not come easily, but in the seventy – second minute, senior forward Salma Tarik out jumped URI goalkeeper Rachel Suther to head in sophomore defender Danielle Murino’s cross for the lead. Tarik however, was not finished. Just three and one – half minutes later, Tarik found herself on the end of a Dana Bergstrom free kick that sailed over the Rhode Island wall and was played beautifully to the striker waiting at the far post. It was a tap in from there and Tarik had her second goal of the game and the last Hofstra goal of the match as the Pride got its first win of the season 3-1. “She [Tarik] is fantastic,” said Riddiough. “She can do magical things with her feet.”
September 5 saw the last day of matches at the Hofstra invitational. St. John’s took down Rhode Island 1-0 to start the day off. Hofstra took on Fordham looking to keep the goals flowing.
Unlike the first game of the tournament, the Pride flew out of the gates, dominating play. Stellar play from junior forward Laura Greene saw her score the first goal of the match, hooking in a shot with her left foot into the back of the net from a tough angle after a streaking run up the right side of the field. “She’s a huge threat,” said Riddiough. “She’s starting to realize how big time she can be.”
The domination continued for the Pride and in the forty – first minute Hawkins netted her second goal of the tournament after breaking away from the Fordham defense, doubling the Pride’s lead going into halftime.
The second half was the setting for the Courtney Breen show as the junior midfielder wasted no time scoring the first goal of the second half just a minute and fourteen seconds into the restart by heading in a perfect Bergstrom corner.
The Hofstra defense remained a stonewall and in the seventy – third minute, Fordham finally put their first shot on goal; an easy save from senior goalkeeper Krista Thorn. Fordham however did apply pressure from there on, finally hitting pay dirt in the eighty – forth minute when sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Abrams scored off a free kick to give Hofstra a minor late scare.
Breen wanted nothing to do with any of these dramatics and with two minutes and twelve seconds remaining, she converted a Hawkins flick from freshman defender Ruby Staplehurst’s free kick and put the game away. As the final whistle blew, Hofstra came away as the 4-1 victors and the winners of the Hofstra Invitational.
Riddiough was quick to praise the tournament MVP and CAA Player of the Week. “Breen is awesome. She quietly goes about her business. She dictates the rhythm of the offense, and she disrupts everything defensively. She’s the complete package.”
The Pride improves its record to 2-1 on the season and will be travelling to Indiana to take on Big Ten opponents Purdue University and Indiana University.