By John Napolitano — STAFF WRITER
Hofstra field hockey’s second consecutive loss drops the Pride to 2-3 this season, as the University of New Hampshire Wildcats bested the Pride 3-1 on Sunday at Memorial Field.
Hofstra midfielder Philine de Wolf scored the lone goal, her third of the season, in the second half, but it was not enough to rally the Pride.
“We had a great game plan against them. The great thing about this game was that we put in place a tactical plan that the team understood and stayed with for 70 minutes, and that’s huge,” said Hofstra head coach Kathy De Angelis.
Hofstra’s mettle was tested when New Hampshire’s Bloem van den Brekel tallied her first collegiate goal less than seven minutes into the first half. New Hampshire doubled its lead with less than four minutes before halftime, as Erin McNamara poked home a pass from Katie Audino.
de Wolf halved Hofstra’s deficit on a breakaway goal at the 51:41 mark off of a pass from junior Madison Suave, her seventh point on the campaign. The lead slipped further out of reach for Hofstra when New Hampshire’s Kayla Sliz blasted her first goal of the season.
Hofstra goalie Carys Swan battled hard between the posts, parrying 12 of 15 shots on goal. Her season save percentage sits at .714, slightly below opposing teams’ .781 save percentage. New Hampshire outshot the Pride 24-3; after Sunday’s loss, opponents are outshooting Hofstra by a margin of 57-65.
“This is just another opportunity to get better. We’re going to have some wins; we’re going to have some losses, and each one of those is just about getting a little bit better everyday,” said De Angelis.
Hofstra is back in action on Saturday, September 9. They return home, where they have not yet suffered a loss this season. The Pride meets the Bobcats of Quinnipiac University in an afternoon matinee at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.
