A strike off the head of Miri Taylor in the 58th minute put the Hofstra women’s soccer team on top of the Northeastern University Huskies, giving the Pride a 2-1 lead that held to the final buzzer and secured Hofstra the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship on Sunday, Nov. 7.
With the win, the Pride now boasts four CAA Championship trophies over their past five seasons, capping off a remarkable run led by graduating students Taylor, Lucy Shepherd and Lucy Porter. The conference win also guarantees them an automatic bid in this year’s NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship.
Taylor’s line drive came off a long pass into the box from Jordan Littleboy, who picked up the assist on the game-winner along with Shepherd. The Pride’s first goal of the match came when they were down 0-1 approaching the 25-minute mark, when Shepherd streaked into the box and sent a shot just out of Huskies goalkeeper Angeline Friel’s reach in the bottom left of the net. Georgia Brown and Cailey Welch garnered assists on the game-tying goal.
“Our heads were a bit down when we let one in, but the quality that we have on our team, we know that we can keep going and we can give the extra five percent,” Shepherd said. “We just did that today, we didn’t let it affect us and we got it back in the net, and once we did that, we just knew the momentum was with us and we were going to win today. There was no doubt about it.”
In a rare case for the Pride this season, they were not the ones to open up the scoring, as they allowed a 0-1 deficit for just the fourth time this season. The Huskies’ opening goal evoked déjà vu for the Pride as it was once again Rose Kaefer from Northeastern who opened up the scoring, the same player who put in the lone deciding goal in the Pride’s 0-1 loss to the Huskies on Thursday, Oct. 14. Faith Rosenblatt’s free kick was headed forward by Alexis Legowski, allowing Kaefer to get a foot on it and put it past Skylar Kuzmich in Hofstra’s goal.
“Fair play to Northeastern, they came in and they took the impetus off us,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “[For] that first 20 minutes, they put us on the back foot, and we had the wind [working against us]. They scored, and [the message was] just, ‘Stay positive.’ And again, as great a staff as I think we have with Gerry [Lucey] and Kelsey [Yam], players like Lucy Porter, Miri Taylor, Lucy Shepherd [and] Jordan Littleboy aren’t going to allow one mistake or one goal to impact their career.”
While the Pride’s defense stood firm, allowing only three shots on goal, Kuzmich got the job done in the net, making two saves to hold the Huskies at bay. Her second save of the day came on a potentially game-tying shot by Mikenna McManus from outside the box with just under 15 minutes left to play. In Northeastern’s goal, Friel made three stops while letting two get past her.
The conference title is Hofstra’s seventh since joining the CAA in 2002, and the sixth under the helm of Riddiough. The game-winner from Taylor brought her season-long points total to 42, the most of any single season in the Pride’s history.
The NCAA will hold their tournament selection show on Monday, Nov. 8, where the Pride’s opponent in the first round of play will be determined. First round matches are scheduled to get underway on Friday, Nov. 12.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
