On Thursday, Sept. 14, the Hofstra University Pride women’s soccer team continued their Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) campaign against the Drexel University Dragons, winning 3-2 and extending their win streak to four. With the win, the Pride improve to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
“It was an interesting game, I thought in both halves we came out strong I thought we controlled the tempo for the first 25 minutes of each half,” head coach Simon Riddiough said. “Then Drexel gradually came into the game each half. The last ten minutes were just battling. Pretty happy with the performance, very happy with the result.”
In the 67th minute, midfielder Aimee Hodgson scored the game-winner. After forward Wiktoria Fronc was fouled outside the box, the Pride had an opportunity to go two up on the Dragons. Hodgson and defender Gabriella Marte lined up over the ball, but when it came time for the kick, Hodgson took it. She struck the ball with perfect technique as the ball went up and over the wall and dipped into the bottom right corner at the right time. Drexel’s goalkeeper Joella Chase almost had it, but she went to the ground too soon, and the ball slipped through her hands and into the net.
To open the scoring, midfielder Millie Davies put one on the board. Fronc played the ball to forward Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir, who then crossed it to the back post finding Davies. Davies got a foot to it, putting it past the keeper to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.
“I thought [Davies] was brilliant the first 25 minutes, and I thought she was buzzing. She got on the ball in tight areas, she got that goal, and that free kick was tremendous,” Riddiough said. “She’s got brilliant technical ability and composure under pressure. Overall, I couldn’t be prouder of her tonight.”
Before going up 3-2, Davies broke the 1-1 deadlock with a free kick of her own. Fronc was fouled outside the box once again, resulting in a free kick. Davies stepped up and struck the ball with her left foot to curl it up and over the wall into the top right corner of the net. This marked her second goal of the game.
The Pride knew what to expect in terms of physicality. Riddiough says they did what needed to be done.
“I loved [the physicality] tonight. We knew we had to match their physicality if we had any chance to win because they were going to steamroller teams. That’s how they play, and they’re very good at it. I was pretty happy with the way we stood up to their physicality,” Riddiough said. “I thought Dagny [Run Petursdottir] did a brilliant job on their best player, number eight, and it’s a good sign moving forward because you need toughness to win championships.”
Drexel’s forward Annalena O’Reilly scored a penalty kick in the 29th minute, and in the 75th minute, forward Isabel Kuzy scored the second for the Dragons.
Both teams finished the game with 13 total shots, but Drexel had six on target compared to the Pride’s four. Goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich recorded four saves, and Chase recorded one on the evening.
The Pride travel to Stony Brook, New York, on Sunday, Sept. 17, to face the Stony Brook University Seawolves in a CAA matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman
