Despite a slow start to the match, the No. 25 ranked Hofstra women’s soccer team used a strong second half to take down Bucknell University 2-0 at home. Hofstra extends its win streak to three and has won six of the first seven games this season.
From the opening whistle, Bucknell was the team on the attack early. Just 51 seconds into the contest, Bucknell forward Paige Temple sent a well-placed shot towards the bottom corner of the net, only for Hofstra goalie Skylar Kuzmich to make a strong diving stop.
Just three minutes later, Kuzmich would make another impressive stop, this time, on Bucknell’s Kelley Francis.
“She started the game off brightly,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “Skylar [Kuzmich] was quick off her line, she was brave, she was alert. You would expect a good Division I goalkeeper to make those saves and she did.”
There were no goals in the first half for either side, as both teams went into halftime with the score still knotted at zero apiece. Just seven minutes into the second frame, star midfielder Miri Taylor whipped a perfect cross into the box where it was knocked in by Amanda Ebbesson, her second of the season put Hofstra up one 52 minutes in.
With just over 11 minutes to go in the contest, Hofstra would add another. Senior Emily Rose made an amazing dribble move to get herself free before sending a long, perfect through ball to Lucy Shepard who knocked a well-placed ball into the box where Miri Taylor scored her sixth of the year, doubling Hofstra’s lead and sealing the deal for the Pride.
However, in the span of three minutes, both Hofstra goal scorers would pick up yellow cards. Ebbesson in the 56th minute, and Taylor in the 59th.
“They’re not yellow cards. The referee gets caught up which sometimes happens in that kind of game,” Riddiough said. “Amanda [Ebbesson] and Miri [Taylor] are physical players. If it weren’t this kind of game it wouldn’t even have been a foul, to be honest.” It was both Taylor and Ebbesson’s first yellow cards of the season.
Hofstra will continue to continue their run of strong play when they host Yale on Sunday, Sep. 12. Although Yale has lost all five of their matchups this season, Riddough stressed the importance of not looking past the Bulldogs. “If we play the lackadaisical style we played in the first half, they’ll penalize us and make us pay. So we need to get back to the Hofstra mentality of relentless effort, consistently focused, and get back to where we want to be,” he said.
Hofstra will host the Yale University Bulldogs on Sunday, Sept. 12, at noon.
Photo Courtesy of Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle
