On Thursday, Sept. 2, the Hofstra women’s soccer team earned its fourth win of the season when they decisively took down the Columbia University Lions at the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium in New York, N.Y. by a score of 3-0.

After neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first half of play, Lucy Shepherd sent a pass into the box, and Lucy Porter tapped in a header from Miri Taylor to give the Pride a 1-0 advantage. Ellen Halseth kept the momentum going less than a minute later with a long shot that found the bottom right of the net, making it her first goal in her two years with the Pride.

Just under four minutes later, Shepherd curled a corner kick just over the head of Audrey Byrne in goal for the Lions, putting the Pride up 3-0 with 34 minutes to play. Columbia managed just one shot in the entire period, unable to mount a comeback and eventually falling 3-0.

The Pride were the aggressors of the match for all 90 minutes, outshooting the Lions by a staggering margin of 18 shots. Columbia was held to just three shots for the whole match, none of which troubled Skylar Kuzmich in the Pride’s box, while 10 of the Pride’s 21 attempts were on-goal. Shepherd and Taylor tallied assists on Porter’s goal early in the second period.

Taylor led all players in shots on goal with four taken, and she tied for Porter for shots taken overall with five each. Freshman midfielder Georgia Brown has proven aggressive on attack for the Pride, taking four shots, two of which were on-goal. Jordan Littleboy had three attempts for Hofstra while Shepherd and Halseth finished with two each. Madi Pilla, Ally Clark and Annie Diaz-Silveira took the Lions’ three shots.

Byrne made seven saves in goal for Columbia but allowed the deciding three goals early in the second period. She was relieved by Lauren Rodriguez for the final eight minutes of play. Kuzmich had a quiet night on the other end of the pitch having faced zero shots on goal all match. This shutout marked the third of the young season for Hofstra.

After knocking off the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, Sept. 5, the Pride sits with a record of 5-1. Their next match will take place at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium as they host Bucknell University on Friday, Sept. 10.

Photo Courtesy of Jacob Lewis/The Hofstra Chronicle