By Kyle Kandetzki – SPORTS EDITOR

As the summer wears on, we inch closer to sports returning to campus at Hofstra. Though we are still a few months away, schedules for the upcoming year are slowly coming out, with the first being Pride Women’s Soccer’s 2015 slate. Before delving into the roster, let’s look at the out-of-conference programs Simon Riddiough’s team has on tap.

8/21 @ PENN STATE (20-4, Big Ten) Things don’t start off easily at all for the CAA runners-up. Penn State is synonymous with athletic success no matter where you go, but their WSOC program goes above and beyond. The Big Ten is debatably the strongest conference in DI soccer, and Penn State is the 2014 champion of that stacked league. This offensively stout team made their way to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals, so in other words, this team was among the eight best in 2014.

Even worse news for Hofstra: PSU isn’t losing a whole lot of talent. Penn State retains all of their five best scorers on an offense that outscored opponents 54-18. Though their best weapon in Frannie Crouse isn’t quite at a Leah Galton level in goals (10 G), this team as a whole has plenty of threats, as well as a strong senior goalie and captain in Britt Eckerstrom, who had a 0.51 GAA in 2014. A win here would not only be a huge upset for Hofstra, but a great way to start a big season. But it will be very, very tough.

8/23 @ RUTGERS (13-6-1, Big Ten) – The Pride will make it easier on themselves in their second matchup…but that isn’t saying much. They stay on the road, and stay in the mighty Big Ten against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights placed fourth in the conference, and notched one win in the NCAA Tournament off of an at-large bid.

The squad was much more defensively oriented than the Lions, shutting out other teams 11 times in 2014. While they lose their best scorer (Stefanie Scholz, 7G), they only lose one starting defender from their successful line last season. To take just one win from either of these first two games would be huge for Hofstra. Rutgers is more realistic, but still very difficult.

8/28 vs. COLUMBIA (7-4-6, Ivy)– Things finally ease up on Hofstra when they return to Hempstead for their home opener against Columbia. The Ivy League has some talent in their WSOC conference, but the Lions have even more player loss than Hofstra has. The team went 7-4-6 in 2014, and only scored 17 goals over 17 total games. Even worse for their offensive cause: they lost nine players this offseason, including their only athlete to score more than twice.

The defense will be key if Columbia wants to pull a win here, as they kept opponents to just 11 scores in 2014. But if the Pride can make their way to the scoreboard a time or two, they should get a W.

8/30 v. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (14-5-1, NEC) – Hofstra continues its first home weekend two days later against NEC opponent FDU. The CAA is definitely stronger than the Northeastern Conference, but Hofstra has chosen the NEC’s best programs to play against (along with CCSU). FDU went 14-5-1, though on a soft out-of-conference slate. They did beat the Pride last season 2-1, but in an exhibition game. Their 2014 team had just one senior, and will return virtually the same roster.

9/4 @ YALE (8-4-4, Ivy) – The schedule take the Pride up to New Haven, CT for a weekend at the Yale Invitational. Their first opponent is the host Bulldogs. They had a struggling offense last season, tying 0-0 three times, and continued their ties in conference, going 2-1-4.

Yale is another team that beat Hofstra last season, but they won in actual regular season play, 2-1. But the game was a frustrating one, as the Pride outshot Yale 23-10, but couldn’t find the back of the net enough. I wouldn’t expect that to happen again, especially with new goalie Rachel Ames paling in comparison to her predecessor (she allowed 1.57 GAA).

9/6 @ CCSU (11-6-4, NEC) – The second and final game of the invitational is against NEC Champion Central Connecticut. The Blue Devils succeeded against their schedule (11-6-4), but it depends on your view of the NEC on if they stack up to Hofstra. When CCSU advanced to the NCAA Tournament, they were decimated by Harvard 6-0, showing that maybe they are only strong against weaker teams. Even worse for Central is their offensive powerhouse Tori Sousa (7G, 6A) graduated. A win against a defending champ would look great for Hofstra, even if they aren’t too great of a team.

9/11 vs. STONY BROOK (5-10-2, America East) – The Athletics department has continued to buy into the extended use of the Long Island rivalry against the Seawolves, and rightfully so. But in this particular installment, the Pride is by far the expected victors after SBU struggled mightily in 2014. They limped to a 5-10-2 record, and even when they didn’t lose, games were difficult, as they had to go to double-OT in four of their seven wins or ties. There are few positives that suggest Stony Brook will turn it around this year, so Hofstra should perform well on their home pitch.

9/13 @ BOSTON UNIVERSITY (14-5-3, Patriot) – The final conference champion Hofstra faces outside of the CAA will also be the final tough non-conference test for them against the BU Terriers. Boston’s 14-5-3 record, Patriot League title (against strong rivals like Navy and Colgate), and upset victory over #19 Boston College equated to a very successful year, and a top 25 RPI at season’s end. Their defense was extremely tough, surrendering just 16 goals while the offense posted more than twice that number with 34.

But the Terriers will experience a lot of transition, losing three players that started every game last year in the defensive position, and their best scorer too. Both lineups that lost a lot of talent in 2014 should be set by this game, and it will be interesting to see which team is in a better spot at this point.

9/20 vs. FORDHAM (8-9-1, A-10) – To cap the month out of conference will be Fordham. The Rams pulled to a near even 8-9-1, but that record was padded by a weak OOC slate. Once they hit the A-10 schedule, they were roughed up, only winning twice. Losing eight seniors (top two scorers and goalie included) will hurt this team even further.

Throughout the summer, look out for previews of the WSOC roster, and the CAA schedule, and a similar treatment for all other Hofstra Fall sports!