Hofstra’s comeback came up just short as they fell on the road to Drexel, 12-11 in their CAA opener on Friday night.
With a high energy second half, the Pride’s women’s lacrosse team was able to cut into Drexel’s eight-point first half lead, scoring 10 goals only to fall one point short of the Dragons when the final whistle sounded.

Led by Becky Conto, Hofstra’s hefty comeback came while outscoring their opponent 10-4 in the second half, the complete opposite of a lethargic first half in which the Pride dug themselves into a steep hole.

“Our team wasn’t prepared in the first half and didn’t play that well, but we played unbelievable in the last 30 minutes,” Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith said.

Though Conto scored a career high 5 goals in this game, it was sophomore Lexi Lenaghan and freshman Alyssa Parrella who notched the first two goals in Hofstra’s second-half surge.

Parrella ended the game with a filled stat sheet. She finished with four goals, two assists, eight draw controls, four ground balls and four caused turnovers.

“For a freshman to do that it was pretty unbelievable. Alyssa, played with a lot of determination that no one was going to stop her, and if she plays like that for a full 60 minutes it’ll be pretty scary what she can do. She’s a phenomenal player both offensively, defensively and in the midfield,” Smith said.

Parrella’s contribution continued into the winding minutes of the second half, scoring back-to-back goals with eight minutes to go to get within two points of the Dragons.

Drexel’s Pelham-Lacey kept the Pride from fully closing the once outstretched lead, as she added three second half goals to finish tied with the game-high five goals.

One last push by the Pride came by the hand of Conto, scoring back-to-back goals and pulling Hofstra within one with a little over five minutes remaining.

Unfortunately for the Pride, the huge first-half deficit proved to be too significant as they fell just short of tying the game.

“We can’t start like the game that we did and dig ourselves in a hole. I don’t think we did one thing right in the first half. We couldn’t shoot the ball, we weren’t moving the ball, we weren’t winning draw controls, and quite frankly we just got out hustled in the first half by Drexel. We’ve got to play like we did in the second 30 minutes for the full 60 minutes so we can see what can happen going forward,” Coach Smith said.

Although starting off conference play with a loss is tough, the Pride will able to build off the strong second half as they move on to their next game in CAA play.

After a full day of rest, Hofstra will take the field again on Sunday, April 9 when they will face the Delaware Blue Hens in Newark at 1 P.M.