By Chris Buckley (Staff Writer)
After advancing to the CAA Tournament for the eighth time in nine years, the Pride field hockey team was sent home in heartbreaking fashion on Friday, losing 3-2 in overtime to the Dukes of James Madison University.
Hofstra would travel to Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to take on third-seeded James Madison University in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at Buckley Field.
The first half would end scoreless, with Hofstra outshooting the Dukes 8-1. Hofstra would open up the scoring to start the second half with a goal from sophomore forward Jonel Boileau at the 50:03 mark. Senior defender Codi Nyland had an assist on the Boileau’s 11th goal of the season.
James Madison would strike at the 61:24 mark when junior Rachel Wein picked up the ball off a scramble on the right side of the goal and put the ball under junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn De Turo to tie the score at one.
The Pride came right back just 1:26 later as senior forward Micaela Gallagher, who was camped out on the left side of the cage, grabbed a rebound off a shot from Boileau and slid it in for her seventh goal of the season and a 2-1 lead.
It seemed the Pride would be advancing until the Dukes managed to tie the contest at two with 20.9 seconds remaining.
Unfortunately, overtime would not last very long as JMU defender Amy Goldstein would run along the Hofstra end line, cut inside and slide the ball past De Turo for the game-winner just 1:59 in, bringing Hofstra’s season to a close.
“It certainly was an extreme heartbreaker,” said head coach Kathy De Angelis. “The game itself was just the most wonderful game, we did everything we needed to do in our game plan. It’s still very difficult to swallow, but I could not have asked the team to play any better.”
The Pride locked up the sixth and final seed in the CAA tournament a week earlier, defeating the Towson Tigers at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium by a score of 2-1.
Senior midfielder Melissa McCarthy was the first to score for the Pride in that game, deflecting Gallagher’s shot past Towson goalie Tashani Dickson 9:38 into the first half.
Towson would tie the contest at 10:58 into the second half when sophomore Stevie Winchester carried the ball along the end line and fired a shot that Courtney Branco deflected past De Turo for her sixth goal of the season.
Gallagher would break the 1-1 tie with 14:42 to play, helping Hofstra secure the win. Branco had another chance in the closing minutes to tie the game for Towson, but De Turo was able to kick away her attempt and put the contest away for good.
Hofstra closed out its regular season that Sunday with a 3-1 loss to the Drexel Dragons. The game did not have any standing-implications for the Pride, but Drexel was able to clinch the number one seed and hosting duties for the CAA Tournament with the victory.
On Senior Day at Hofstra, Nyland scored the Pride’s only goal of the match. At 4:32 into the second half, with Hofstra already down 2-0, Nyland, camped out on the left side of the goal, tipped in a shot by McCarthy from the right side of the circle.
Despite other second half opportunities, the Pride could not capitalize and another second half goal from Drexel would put the game out of reach.
With the loss, the seniors of the squad, Micaela Gallagher, Codi Nyland, Meg Leusch, Melissa McCarthy, Krizia Layne, and Kerry Kiddoo, have played their final game for the Hofstra field hockey team.
“This is a wonderful group of individuals,” said De Angelis. “For me, I have enjoyed every moment of watching them mature and to see their games get stronger and see them be the best they can be. I’m so proud of them and have been privileged to be with them for four years. They’ve left a great mark on the program.”