The Hofstra Pride women’s field hockey team shut out the Sacred Heart University Pioneers this past Friday by a 5-0 score. Although the contest was held on Yale’s Johnson Field, Hofstra took control of the neutral ground from the first whistle.
Just four minutes in, the Pride managed to take three shots before Carissa Witmer, assisted by Madison Reed and Claudia Marin Samper, earned the first goal of the contest. Hofstra continued pushing to expand their lead and maintained control of the field.
The Pride took two unsuccessful shots before scoring again. Pioneer goalie Emily Degennaro blocked the first shot by the Pride’s Stella Schoen, but the senior forward rallied back to score a goal from the corner.
After the second goal for Hofstra, Sacred Heart attempted to get on the board. However, Pride goalkeeper Carys Swan was not letting any shots through. Both team’s defensive players stepped up in the latter part of the first period. Swan stopped every shot on goal the Pioneers took, while Degennaro racked up three saves before the Pride scored again.
Marin Samper slipped a shot past Degennaro earning the Pride its third goal with 10:00 left in the match.
Both sides scrambled to gain possession off the rebound, and Sacred Heart earned control. It was clear that the Pioneers wanted to close the three point deficit. Christina Gotthold of SHU took two shots back to back, but to no avail as Swan continued to protect the goal. The Pioneers took one more unsuccessful shot before the end of the first period.
After the first 35 minutes of play, the Pride racked up 13 shots compared to just six from the Pioneers. Swan and Degennaro both earned five saves.
Coming out of halftime the Pride maintained their momentum from the first half. Colby Hussong earned the fourth goal for Hofstra just three minutes back in play.
The Pride kept possession for the majority of the second period, not backing down and taking what shots they could. The SHU defense answered by blocking four before they could reach the goal. In addition, goalie Degennaro successfully blocked four shots from scoring.
Though their defense was up, the Pioneers were not able to take any shots in the second period.
With just 6:41 left in the second period, Madison Sauve got the ball form Marin Samper and shot it right over the goalie’s head, earning the Pride their fifth and last goal of the match.
Hofstra tallied up 14 more shots in the second half, while SHU remained stagnant at 6. Overall the Pride outshot the Pioneers 27-6.
This win breaks the Pride’s two game slump, and puts them at 2-3 for the season. The loss puts the Pioneers down 0-5, however.
The shutout is junior goalie Swan’s first of the season and second of her career. Senior Marin Samper led the team in assists, racking up four for the season.
Hofstra is on the road again this week. They return to New Haven Sunday to take on Yale at 2 p.m.
