The Hofstra women’s soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to five matches on Sunday, March 21 with a 3-0 victory over the Huskies of Northeastern University at Hofstra Soccer Stadium. The match opened up Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play for the conference’s No. 1 ranked Pride.
Sophomore defender Anja Suttner led the way with two goals, marking her first career match of multiple scores. Sabrina Bryan added her fourth goal of the season to round out the Pride’s three in the match. She also assisted on both of Suttner’s goals, bringing her to 16 total points through five matches, overtaking fellow senior Lucy Porter as the team’s leader in points.
The first half saw strong defensive play on both ends, as both teams managed just one shot on goal through the first 40 minutes. With 2:23 remaining until halftime, Suttner put Hofstra on the board, as she took a cross from Bryan on the left side of the box and knocked it past Northeastern goalkeeper Angeline Friel.
“[Suttner is] a dream to coach,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “She’s a wonderful player, but an even better person. When [our] back is against the wall, you know that Anja Suttner’s going to step up and make a difference … She’s just a fantastic, fantastic player. She’s obviously the best defender in the [CAA], in my opinion.”
The Pride began the second half aggressively, as Krista Agostinello forced Friel to make a save just over five minutes into the half. They maintained possession for much of the half, controlling the pace and attacking often.
Bryan was able to capitalize on an opening on the left side by getting around her defender and driving to the middle of the field for a clean look at the goal. She put the ball just out of Friel’s reach into the near corner of the net, bringing the Pride’s lead to 2-0 with under 30 minutes to play. The goal was assisted on by Porter and Miri Taylor, who got the ball to Bryan with plenty of room to work inside the box.
The closing 10 minutes saw the Huskies amp up their attack, looking to get back in the contest late. Their comeback hopes were shot down by Suttner’s second goal of the day and the third for Hofstra, coming at the 86:05 mark. The score came after a corner kick from Bryan came down in the middle of a scrum inside the goal area, and Suttner was the first one to get a foot on it to send it up and over the Huskies defenders and into the net.
“[The Huskies] make you work for goals and games, and that wasn’t an easy 90 minutes,” Riddiough said. “3-0 sounds like a comfortable game, [but] it wasn’t. They make you fight for everything, and you’ve got to be super impressed by how they did that.”
The Pride will look to continue their dominant play on Saturday, March 27 in their second away match of the season, when they will take on the University of Delaware in Newark, DE in a CAA matchup.
Photo Courtesy of Jacob Lewis/The Hofstra Chronicle
