On Thursday, Oct. 27, the Hofstra University women’s soccer team traveled to West Long Branch, New Jersey, to take on the Monmouth University Hawks in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship. The Pride won after going into overtime and defeating the Hawks 5-4 on penalty kicks.
The Pride struck first in the game when freshman Dagny Run Petursdottir was fouled a few yards from the top of the box, awarding Hofstra a free kick. Defender Anja Suttner stepped up to take the kick and curled the ball around the right side of the wall for her sixth goal of the season.
About 25 minutes later, Suttner had another chance on goal, but this time, Monmouth’s goalkeeper Cassandra Coster saved the shot. The first half ended with Hofstra leading 1-0. They had five total shots compared to Monmouth’s two, and each side had one corner kick. Skylar Kuzmich had one save in goal for Hofstra, while Coster had two to end the half.
Both sides had a few shots off-target to start the second half, but neither posed a real threat. That lasted until the 61st minute when Summer Reimet found the equalizer for Monmouth to even the score at 1-1.
As regulation neared its end, the Pride had a chance to score the game-winner as another Monmouth penalty set the stage for Suttner. Although the shot was tailor-made for the bottom right corner of the net, Coster made a brilliant save to keep the score even.
The first overtime period ended with the score still 1-1, as did the second, sending the match to a shootout.
Defender Chloe Ferreira took the first shot for Monmouth and put the ball past Kuzmich. Suttner then stepped up for Hofstra and matched Ferreira with a goal of her own.
The back and forth continued in the next round as Rachel Ludwick converted the second kick for the Hawks, while Gabriella Marte converted hers for the Pride.
After Perna and midfielder Aimee Hodgson kept the shootout tied at 3-3 in the third round, the fourth round almost took a turn for the worse for the Pride. Forward Lauren Karabin made her shot, but Millie Davies’ shot was the first that missed of the entire shootout. Fortunately for the Pride, Reimet missed her penalty, and defender Allison Mendes made hers to tie the shootout to 4-4.
In the sixth round, both shooters missed the net.
In the seventh, after a long match and anxiety-ridden shootout, Krista Agostinello scored and called the game to send Hofstra on to the next round of the CAA tournament.
Hofstra takes the pitch for the semifinal game on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2 p.m. against Towson University for a spot in the CAA championship game. The game will take place at Hesse Field in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
Photo Courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Athleitcs
