After a brief two-match winless streak, the No. 25 Hofstra women’s soccer team got back on track with a 2-0 win at Drexel University on Thursday, Oct. 21, at Vidas Field. Lucy Shepherd and Lucy Porter led the way for the Pride, each scoring a goal and improving the Pride’s record to 13-2-1 overall and 5-1-1 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Hofstra goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich was stellar in net, making six saves and putting up a shutout for the second consecutive match. The junior has allowed only two goals over the Pride’s last five matches.
Hofstra got the scoring off quickly and took a 1-0 lead 14 minutes in after Miri Taylor drove down the left side of the field and found a wide-open Shepherd in front of the net. On a one-on-one with the Drexel goalkeeper, Shepherd fired a shot past Miyuki Schoyen and to the back of the net.
This goal was Shepherd’s sixth of the season, making her tied for second on the team with Ellen Halseth. For Taylor, the assist was her 36th point of the season, which ties her for first in the nation with Mikayla Colohan from Brigham Young University.
Hofstra continued to put pressure on the Dragons and fired a few shots more on goal, including one off the top crossbar from the foot of Taylor. At 31:47, the Pride broke through again as Louise Hayden and Georgia Brown both served up Lucy Porter perfectly with some tic-tac-toe passes and Porter tapped it over the head of Schoyen into the far-right post.
The two quick first-half goals were all the Pride needed as the defense shut down the Dragons’ attack the rest of the way. Drexel put up 10 total shots, with six of them being on goal, but the strong play of Kuzmich and Hofstra’s defenders fueled the way to a much-needed win.
After losing to Northeastern University and tying with the College of William & Mary this past week, which resulted in the Pride dropping from No. 12 to 25 in the national rankings, Hofstra moved back into first place in the conference with its win over Drexel.
They will play two more conference matches before the CAA tournament, starting with fifth place Elon University on Sunday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. at Rudd Field.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
