The Hofstra women’s soccer team struggled to score a goal on Sunday, Sept. 25, in a 2-0 loss to College of William & Mary (W&M) at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
“I was actually quite happy with the performance,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “I thought we controlled much of the game and created chances to win, but individual errors cost us.”
The Pride got off to a sloppy start both offensively and defensively, as W&M opened the game by pressuring Hofstra’s defensive territory in the first few minutes. That early pressure ultimately led to a goal two minutes into the game for the Tribe, as Ivey Crain scored her fifth of the season with an assist from Elaina Longjohn.
With their lead at 1-0, the Tribe continued to up the pressure, attacking Hofstra hard from all directions.
The Pride began to gain some momentum with back-to-back shots by Krista Agostinello and Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir that both narrowly missed the goal wide left. Hofstra continued to shoot by firing off four shots in a span of 10 minutes, but the Tribe’s defense held strong to end the first half.
W&M almost took a commanding lead with time expiring in the first half as Kayleigh Shackford shot from out top, but a save by the Pride’s goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich kept it a one goal game.
The Pride’s offensive struggles persisted out of the gate after halftime with opportunities at a plenty, but without any results on the scoreboard to show for them.
W&M stretched its lead to 2-0 on Crain’s second goal of the afternoon, which was assisted by Ginny Delacruz and Longjohn.
In the late minutes of the game, Hofstra continued to take that sailed off target. Hofstra outpaced W&M in total shots 18-9 in the game, but only challenged Tribe goalkeeper Zoe Doughty with four on goal all afternoon.
Ellen Halseth led Hofstra with four shots with two of them being on goal. Kuzmich recorded two saves in net for the Pride.
“We created a lot of opportunities; we’ve got a lot of offensive weapons, but if you’re having an off day at the office, it’s going be a long day,” Riddiough said.“We created chances, it was just finishing them. Some of the chances we had I would love to have as a player.”
Hofstra looks to get back on track as they get ready to match up against Monmouth University Hawks on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Chronicle
