On Saturday, April 27, the Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team fell short in their comeback efforts, losing a heartbreaker to the Drexel University Dragons 11-10.
Hofstra trailed for over 28 minutes of game time, fighting back from a deficit three different times, ultimately leaving the game tied 10-10 with just under six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Drexel’s Bea Buckley scored the game-winner off a free position with around three and a half minutes left as the Dragons held off Hofstra’s last-minute push to force overtime.
“Really proud of our resiliency, I thought we battled in the first half to tie the game, we battled back in the fourth quarter down by three goals to tie it up and I think we’ll learn a lot,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith. “Just really excited to be in the playoffs next week and have another opportunity, another game together, another week together.”
The Dragons scored first, as Alex Wall found the back of the net just under two minutes into the contest. She followed it up with another goal almost six minutes later, putting Hofstra down 2-0 halfway through the first quarter. Wall finished with three goals, along with her teammate Corinne Bednarik who also added four assists for a game-high seven points.
The Pride refused to roll over as Nikki Mennella got on the board just a minute later, attacking her defender one-on-one before spinning off and firing a shot into the back of the net. Kristen Redding and Melissa Sconone tallied their own goals to tie the game 3-3 early into the second quarter.
The Dragons responded with three unanswered goals over the next six minutes as the Pride struggled against Drexel’s keeper Jenika Cuocco, who had four of her five second-quarter saves in that span. Cuocco, the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) top goalkeeper in saves per game and save percentage, finished with 16 saves, fighting off a barrage of Hofstra shot attempts.
“We just gotta get cleaner shots, cleaner looks. [Cuocco]’s a tremendous goalie, I think she’s at a 57 save percentage, that’s really high. [She is] very quick, active,” Smith said. “We made some good shots, but she made some really good saves, too. It’s going to take another great performance shooting the ball well, but hats off to her and the season that she’s having.”
Sconone brought Hofstra within one with back-to-back goals late in the second, capping it off with a scorching shot into the top of the net after drawing a foul. She finished with a team-high six points on four goals and two assists.
“[Sconone] just brings so much leadership, a calming presence and she’s a winner. She put the team on her back, at some point she had two nice right goals; she just sees the game very well,” Smith said. “She’s another coach on the field, tremendous IQ. The girls look up to her on the team. Just really happy to have her and just really proud of her performance and what she did today.”
Even while fighting off a double-team in the fourth quarter, Sconone snuck a pass inside to Kerry Walser for a goal before scoring her fourth goal 47 seconds later to tie the game.
Always a key contributor for the Pride this season, Walser finished with three goals, all coming in the second half. The senior also grabbed a career-high 12 draw controls, the most by any member of the Pride since 2019.
“[Walser]’s having a tremendous year, capping off her senior year, but she’s a warrior and she didn’t want to lose, and you saw that. She’s got a motor on her; she just keeps going,” Smith said. “She’s a great kid, great person to be around and just super happy for Kerry and we’ll need it again from her on Thursday.”
The Pride finished the regular season with a 9-7 record overall, going 6-2 in CAA play while Drexel improved to 12-4 overall, finishing near-perfect in CAA play at 7-1. Both teams are set for a rematch in the semifinals of the CAA tournament, but Drexel will earn the second seed with their victory over the Pride. The semifinal will be held on Thursday, May 2, at 2:30 p.m. from LaValle Stadium at Stony Brook University.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Lee S. Weissman
