On Sunday, March 12, the Hofstra Pride women’s lacrosse team lost to the No. 20 University of Southern California Trojans (USC) in a close matchup, 9-8, at James M. Shuart Stadium. The Pride now sits at 3-5 overall.
“It was a really great lacrosse game,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith. “USC is a very good team and very well coached. [I] thought our team showed a lot of resiliency, especially going down in the first quarter three nothing and then down by five there in the fourth quarter and coming back. We played really tough defensively. [Cardello] made some really, really great saves in the cage, and I just thought that we needed to find more openings on offense than we did in the second half as we did in the first half.”
The Trojans had a fast-paced offense that allowed them to grab the afternoon’s first goal. Hofstra’s defense started tough but found their groove later into the quarter. Claudia Shevitz scored the first goal as she sent the ball to the bottom right of the net 58 seconds in. The Pride tried to silence the Trojans, but USC kept a high tempo. Shelby Tilton took a shot for the Trojans, but freshman goalie Luchianna Cardello came up with a save to keep the Pride only down one.
Cardello saved three more shots in the quarter, keeping her composure despite the goals scored against her. Maddie Dora received the ball from Tilton to score the game’s second goal for the Trojans, followed by a goal from Katie Ramsay. USC led 3-0 going into the second quarter.
“[Cardello] just sees the ball well, but she’s very composed, calm, cool and collected,” Smith said. “Even when a goal goes in, she just resets and gets ready for the next one.”
The Pride picked up their offense at the beginning of the second quarter, with Kerry Walser scoring for Hofstra off a free position shot. USC bounced back and scored their fourth goal of the game courtesy of Maggie Brown.
Ella Heaney scored the fifth as she shot the ball to the bottom left corner, and Brown scored the sixth assisted by Isabelle Vitale. With the clock winding down, Katie Kelly scored Hofstra’s second of the game assisted by Emily Weigand, making the score 6-2 heading into halftime. Cardello had eight total saves at the end of the half.
Coming back from halftime, Hofstra’s offense immediately began rolling as they scored their third goal. Walser fed the ball to Lauren Coletti for the goal. Jackie Gatti immediately scored a fourth for Hofstra off a free position shot, making the score 6-4. Brown had a promising shot on goal for the Trojans, but Cardello came up with a huge save to deny a seventh goal. Shevitz scored the quarter’s final goal, giving USC the 7-4 lead.
Immediately out of the gates in the fourth quarter, Walser kicked a rocket to the top right corner after receiving the ball from Taylor Mennella for the score. Brown scored the eighth and Dora scored the ninth for the Trojans giving them a four-goal advantage.
The Pride’s offense did not give up, scoring three more goals in the quarter. Rachel Graff scored the sixth with a rocket right in front of the net. Mennella scored the seventh on a free position shot, cutting the deficit to two with 3:04 left. Walser scored the eighth and final goal for the Pride off a free position shot to the top left corner with 46.7 left in the game.
Hofstra had one more chance to score the tying goal, but they couldn’t capitalize as they fell 9-8 to the Trojans.
“We moved her [Walser] up to midfield, and she’s been playing lights out,” Smith said. “She’s playing great defensively, and then offensively she’s playing with a lot of heart, playing very spirited, finishing her shots and putting a lot of extra work on the outside.”
The Pride returns to the field on Saturday, March 18, to start conference play against the College of William & Mary Tribe at 1 p.m. in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Evan Bernstein
