Lucy Porter scored a hat-trick and the Hofstra women’s soccer team defeated the Towson University Tigers 7-2 on Saturday, April 10 at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium. The Pride’s only departing senior, Sabrina Bryan, picked up an assist to move into sole possession of first place on the team’s all-time assists list with 27.
“[Bryan] has been astronomical for us,” head coach Simon Riddiough said. “From the first moment she stepped on our campus, she’s been absolutely fantastic, and she’s grown and grown. She’s a big-time player.”
The Pride (7-0-1, 3-0-1 in-conference) got things going early. Jordan Littleboy and Lucy Shepherd played a give-and-go on the right side of the field. Shepherd crossed the ball to Porter who nailed the bottom right corner from just outside the 18-yard box to give Hofstra a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the match.
The Pride put the ball in the net in the 28th minute, but it was their own net. Towson’s (2-4-2, 2-2-0 in-conference) Phoebe Canoles beat Skylar Kuzmich, but her shot hit the post. Marlene Fries tried to keep the ball off the line but ended up putting it in Hofstra’s own net.
Fries helped Hofstra score on Towson’s net less than 10 minutes later. Miri Taylor sent a corner kick into the box and Fries headed it over to Porter who scored a bicycle-kick goal to make it 2-1 for the Pride.
In the second half, the goals came fast and furious. Just under five minutes in, Shepherd sent a long, left-footed shot over Tigers’ keeper Riley Melendez to double the Hofstra lead. Less than two minutes later, the ball slipped out of the Towson box but Littleboy got a running start and blasted it to the top left corner to make it 4-1.
“I thought [Littleboy] was our best player,” Riddiough said. “From the first minute, she settled the game. She dominated that midfield area, she was winning headers, [her] ability to spread passes left to right [and] switch points of attack was fantastic. She nullified any counterattack opportunities. She was unbelievable today.”
The Tigers responded less than a minute later, as Canoles sent a long free kick into the box and Camryn Anderson headed it home to pull Towson back within two goals.
60 seconds later, Hofstra scored once again. Littleboy sent the ball into the box and Taylor tapped it to Porter who completed her third career hat trick, and her second against Towson.
“When [Porter] gets in the right spot at the right time, she’s clinical,” Riddiough said. “I think you saw that today. All three goals were classic [Porter].”
The two teams combined for four goals in 3:40 during that scoring run.
It took almost 28 minutes to find the next tally. A Bryan shot was blocked but it came right to Fries who scored the first goal of her Hofstra career.
In her final regular season home game, Bryan scored one last goal at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium. With under two minutes to play, the senior was taken down in the box, drawing a penalty kick where she beat Melendez to the left.
Despite the dominant offensive performance, there is still work to be done heading into the postseason, according to Riddiough.
“We weren’t disciplined in midfield as a team in general and we kept giving up silly fouls,” Riddiough said. “We spoke about their ability to drive balls into the box from deep and both goals came from that.”
With the win, Hofstra clinched the number one seed in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament. The Pride also clinched their third undefeated in-conference slate in the last four years. After defeating Towson, Hofstra will begin their quest to win four straight CAA championships at the Tigers’ place on April 15. The Pride will take on Elon University in the CAA semifinals.
Photo Courtesy of Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle
