By Joe Pantorno, Sports Editor
Hat tricks from senior forward Genna Kovar and junior forward Krizia Layne carried the Hofstra University field hockey team to its seven straight home win with a 7-2 victory over Delaware on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” said head coach Kathy De Angelis. “We came out with the absolute intensity that we’ve been preparing for in practice every single day and we’ve been trying to get that from each and every single player.”
As it has been all season, Kovar got things started offensively for Hofstra just a minute and a half in the game when a long pass from senior defender Amy-Lee Levey Layne, who found Kovar in the box and she rolled it into the back of the net.
Layne cashed in on a penalty corner with 25:47 left when she tipped a shot from Levey off the goalkeeper’s foot into the top of the net.
The Delaware offense picked up, and was awarded a penalty stroke. Freshman defender Kelsey McKee sent her shot to the right of the goal where senior goalkeeper Amanda Heyde was able to get a pad on it, but it tipped into the back of the net with 19:02 left in the first.
With Delaware monopolizing possession midway through the first, Kovar settled things down for the Pride, netting her second of the game after a long, winding run into the right side of the shooting circle, sending a hard low shot into the bottom left corner with 13:17 remaining.
“We knew Delaware had an amazing defense and we knew in order for us to beat them we had to step up our game,” said De Angelis. “It took us a little bit of time to adjust to such strong tackling and that’s what really gave us more possession later.”
Kovar was at it again with 3:09 left in the half when another sparkling run down the left side of the field gave her the opportunity to center it for Layne who tipped it into the wide open net.
Despite Delaware’s offensive prowess, the defense stayed strong and kept the 4-1 lead intact going into the second half.
“Those guys in the back line did a fantastic job today,” said De Angelis. “They set a standard and it has come from them and it has trickled up all the way to the striker line now.”
Delaware did not let up with the start of the second half and with five minutes gone, cashed in off a penalty corner despite Heyde’s brilliance in net, constantly being called into action to save the Hofstra defense.
“I thought she [Heyde] played a great game,” said De Angelis. “She was very steady today. There was times she had tremendous saves and there were times where she would be directing for a long period of time and her focus was unreal so I can’t say enough about her.”
Hofstra’s offense stabilized thanks to the play of Kovar and Layne managing to keep possession.
Kovar got her hat trick with 20 minutes remaining when a pass from junior midfielder Micaela Gallagher sent her on a run into the shooting circle. While meandering towards the right across the face of goal, she sent the keeper the wrong way and finished into the bottom left hand corner.
Hofstra continued to buzz offensively, piling up the chances and drawing a lot of penalty corners.
Layne joined Kovar in the hat trick club when Kovar gained possession, streaked past two defenders and centered it again for Layne who had another easy tap in with 11:14 left.
“Krizia is having a fantastic year,” said De Angelis. “Playing as a right striker, she usually is crossing the ball more, but she has been in the right spots this year.”
Senior forward Darrah Rachman got into the scoring mix with less than three minutes left in the game when a shot off a Hofstra penalty corner was saved with the rebound coming right out to Rachman who rolled it into the net.
With her eight point game, Kovar set the new school record for points in a career and most goals in a season.
“You just sit back and it happens right in front of you,” said De Angelis. “She has shined in so many games for us and this year has been a huge breakout year for her and she comes every game with that true ambition to compete and compete and against herself.”
Senior forward Genna Kovar (24) has scratched her name into the record books with a hat trick against Delaware. (Cody Heintz/The Chronicle)
