By Marco Meglio and Kevin Carroll - STAFF WRITER AND SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Hofstra women’s soccer team stayed hot on Friday, defeating College of Charleston 5-0 in one of the most mismatched games of the year. It was clear that everything was clicking on the offensive end as the Pride netted one of their highest goal totals for a game this season.
Within 10 minutes, Hofstra had already earned two goals. The first was a beautiful back heel kick by Amber Stobbs who was assisted by none other than Leah Galton. Minutes later, Galton took it upon herself to find space and send a blasting top corner shot to give the Pride a 2-0 lead. The pressure was unstoppable and the lead seemed in total command.
In the second half, the Cougars found themselves making mistakes left and right. Hofstra’s all-time points leader Sam Scolarici made quick work of the poor Charleston turnover, netting another goal and building Hofstra’s lead once again.
After an early goal, Stobbs was not done there. In the 55th minute, she tacked on an assist to an already impressive game. This time, she made a great one-touch pass to forward Jeannine Molleda who then finished a beautiful left-footed goal to send another knock to the Cougars. Hofstra continued to attack and showed no relent with a final dagger in the 63rd minute when Emily Hulbert found the far post to bring the game to its 5-0 final score.
In addition to the offensive explosion, their defense played a major part as well, allowing the Cougars to take only seven shots, only three of which were on goal.
But 90 minutes wasn’t enough for Hofstra on Sunday, as the Pride and the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks went through two hotly contested overtime periods before ultimately ending in a 2-2 draw.
Coming into the match, Hofstra hadn’t allowed a goal in the past three games. However, the Seahawks struck first, as Maddie McCormick found the back of the net from six yards out in the 32nd minute, off of a Madison Melnick assist from the left side.
It didn’t take long for the Pride to even things up, as Emily Agudelo netted the equalizer off of a beautiful free kick in the 42nd minute to tie things up at one. The goal was Agudelo’s first of the season, and was a big momentum boost for Hofstra heading into the half.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, but it was Leah Galton who put the Pride ahead in the 63rd minute. Galton’s first shot was initially blocked by Seahawks goalkeeper Carolyn Huddy, but Galton followed her shot, and her second attempt got by the keeper for Galton’s ninth score of the season.
UNC-Wilmington pulled even almost immediately, off of the foot of Katrina Guillou, with the assist credited to Greyson Ray. From there on out, neither team was able to find the net, as some outstanding goalkeeping from both sides was enough to send this one into overtime.
Both squads were unable to convert on multiple shot opportunities in the two OT periods, and the game ended deadlocked at 2.
In a change of pace from the Pride’s previous games, the Seahawks got off 15 shots, but only 4 were on goal. Friederike Mehring had two saves on the day, but her counterpart, Carolyn Huddy, outshined her across the pitch.
Huddy turned away an impressive 11 shots, as the Hofstra offensive unit was firing on all cylinders. In all, the Lady Pride took an astonishing 30 total shots, 18 combined coming off the feet of Hofstra’s two-headed scoring attack, consisting of Galton and Scolarici.
Scolarici, who tallied her 100th career point in a win over the College of Charleston on Friday, couldn’t find the net against the Seahawks.
Also of note during Sunday’s Colonial Athletic Association contest was the near-constant sound of the whistle being blown. Both teams combined for 40 fouls, and the Seahawks were shown the yellow card three times, and the red card once, throughout the game.
Hofstra’s record now stands at 9-6-1, with a CAA record of 4-2-1. The Hofstra women’s soccer team returns home to the Hofstra soccer stadium on Friday to play Drexel at 7:00 p.m., before their regular season finale against the University of Delaware on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., also at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
