The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team got back on track Saturday, as freshman Alyssa Parrella’s five goals led the Pride to a convincing 14-4 victory over Quinnipiac University at James M. Shuart Stadium.
“It’s nice to get back in the win column,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith following the game. “We definitely had a hard week of practice, and we came out and worked on the things we needed to work on.”
After a pair of losses to nationally ranked programs in the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, the Pride was hungry to get back into the win column, and the team did so in emphatic fashion with Saturday’s win.
Hofstra’s offense was the story, launching 40 shots at the Bobcats’ keeper, compared to just 16 from Quinnipiac.
33 of those Hofstra shots were on goal, the biggest number put up by the Pride all season. In fact, it’s the most shots on goals for the Pride since ripping 31 shots on goal against George Mason University back in 2013.
Parrella added two assists to go along with her five scores, finishing with seven total points on the afternoon. She also won five of the Pride’s 11 draw controls.
The freshman standout, who earned her third CAA Rookie of the Week award of the season on Monday, boosted her team-leading numbers to 31 total points, on 22 goals and nine assists.
Parrella’s stats place her in the top ten of the CAA in goals, assists, and total points, while she actually leads the conference in points per game, averaging just over five points a contest.
“I think Alyssa [Parrella] did really well on finishing her free-position shots,” Smith said.
The Pride also received sizable contributions on offense from a number of players, including Drew Shapiro, who notched a hat trick and added three assists, as well. Lexi Lenaghan, Becky Conto and Carlee Ancona each added a pair of goals for the Pride, who improved to 3-3 with the win.
It was all Hofstra from start to finish, as Hofstra started giving Quinnipiac goalie Kyle Larkin trouble early. The Pride broke the scoreless tie just about three and a half minutes into the game, as Parrella scored an unassisted goal to put the Pride out in front. It was Hofstra’s first lead in two games, going back to an early 1-0 lead over Maryland, two weeks prior.
Hofstra would stretch the lead to 4-0 before the Bobcats were able to answer, courtesy of a pair of goals from Ashley Bobinski to cut the Pride’s lead in half.
Another four-goal run from the Pride would make it an 8-2 Hofstra lead heading into halftime, and the Pride never wavered after that. Lenaghan would wrap up the scoring with her second goal of the afternoon with five minutes left to play, giving the Pride a 144 advantage that would hold up as the final score.
The Pride will next be in action on Tuesday afternoon, taking on the University of New Hampshire on the road at 4 p.m.
