The Hofstra University field hockey team ended the 2023 season with a win over Rider University at home on Sunday, Oct. 29. The Pride beat the Broncs 2-0, ending the season with an overall record of 6-12 while Rider closed out their season 7-11.
“Great way to end the season on a win and to celebrate the seniors,” said Hofstra head coach Courtney Veinotte. “This group is special to me; they’re my first full recruiting class. They’ve just been completely consistent and led this group, and it’s been a pleasure working with them.”
Goalkeeper Meghan Reilly earned her first career shut-out on her senior day. The Pride also honored team captains Samantha Spera and Gabriela Espinoza along with seniors Cami Valor and Liv Truong.
Junior Tara McNally scored both goals for the Pride with two assists from sophomore Jamie Mc Millan. The first goal was scored in the second quarter from a give-and-go following a corner that was inserted by Teresa Karoff. The second goal came during the fourth quarter when the duo scored once again off a corner after McNally’s shot deflected off a Rider player’s stick and into the goal over goalkeeper Carlee Fulton. McNally ended the season with six goals to lead the Pride in scoring and Mc Millan finished tied with Kesia Richardson with five assists each.
“They put a lot of time into practicing those set pieces, so to see it come together, I know it’s relieving to them,” Veinotte said.
During the third quarter, the Broncs appeared to tie up the score with a shot by Willemijn Ephraim that went into the goal but was determined to be played too high. The Broncs had briefly had another chance during the last three minutes of play from a corner, but the shot that was deflected to keep the final score at 2-0.
Hofstra ended with 11 shots, three from McNally and two from Jaime Lewis. Rider ended with four shots, and both teams earned three penalty corners. Three cards were given during play: a green card to Valor in the third quarter, a green card to Rider’s Valeria Perales in the fourth quarter and a yellow card to Karoff in the fourth quarter.
The game marked the end of the 2023 season for the Pride, who failed to qualify for the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) championships.
“Obviously, we’d all be doing anything possible to be playing next weekend, but with that being said, [I’m] very, very proud of this group,” Veinotte said. “They’ve changed our style of play; they are a very connected passing group. I think the next thing for us is just finding the back of the net; we’re there, we’re finding opportunities; it’s just those goal scoring moments.”
The Pride concludes the season with a total of 28 goals, 1.56 goals per game and 167 shots.
Monmouth University, Drexel University, the College of William and Mary and Northeastern University qualified for the CAA championships and will begin play on Friday, Nov. 3.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Lee S. Weissman
